It Never Rains in Southern California
by Freddo
Summary: In 2208, Earth is at peace, but there are continuing conflicts and trials within the lives of members of the Star Force as they adjust to peacetime life and to new families...STORY NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS---**

**IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA**

A Postscript to THE NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---Freddo

**PART ONE: OF THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT**

**I. A RAINY NIGHT**

**Earth**

**The San Diego Megalopolis**

**San Diego Central Hospital**

**Thursday, February 11, 2208 1505 Hours Local Time**

Nova Wildstar decided to stick her head outside San Diego Central Hospital as her shift came close to its end.

She went outside with Dawn Hardy, who was working with her this day at the hospital.

"It's getting warm again," said Dawn with a sigh as she ran her hand over her now 6 and a half months pregnant stomach.

It was drizzling slightly, and there were a few pieces of dead snow on the ground; leftovers from Sunday's snowstorm. Nova could see waves of steam coming up from the road in front of the hospital beneath her sandals as she sipped at some coffee.

"Is weather always this weird in San Diego in the winter?" Nova said. "Monday, we were freezing and I needed my boots and a heavy coat with the snow on the ground. Tuesday, it got a little warmer, I needed a lighter coat and pumps and stockings. Yesterday, it was warm, just put on my uniform coat and broke out the sandals. Today, it s almost too warm for a coat. Tomorrow, we might be at work in the light tunics we wore on Iscandar, and if it gets even warmer, I might be sitting on the beach naked with the kids on Saturday afternoon nursing them like back in October. And that's before it gets cold again like they say it will next week!"

"No, it just used to be rainy in the winters here," said Dawn. "At least...it was like that last year," she said as she sat in the grass. "My ankles hurt."

"Water weight gain from your twins", Nova said. "The last time Doctor Sane and I had a look on the ultrasound, they were getting big."

"Too big," Dawn said. She looked at her pregnant stomach and sighed. "How much fatter am I going to get?"

"You remember how I looked when I was expecting," Nova replied. "Use that as a benchmark."

Dawn looked down, wiggling her own sandaled toes up. _I can still just about see them over this stomach_, she thought mournfully. "Jeff thinks I'm fat," Dawn said.

"He does not," Nova said.

"He thinks I am just grotesque!" Dawn said as she was close to tears. Nova hugged her, thinking, _It must be the hormones. I got like that a lot when I was carrying Alex and Ariel._

Then, both Dawn and Nova looked up when they heard an arguing couple approaching.

Dawn set aside her own feelings when she saw Angie Hartcliffe, who was now close to nine months pregnant, walking along in silence in a short maternity dress and flip-flops holding her stomach as Bryan Hartcliffe walked behind her, berating her. Bryan had on his flight jacket and uniform, but his hair was more scraggly than ever and he was working on about four days worth of a growth of beard. Even though he was, ostensibly, serving part-time at the nearby airbase while he awaited his next Court-Martial (the General Court-Martial he had asked for), he looked more like a hippie than a member of the EDF. Even though he had earned the right (under probation) to stay with his pregnant wife for humanitarian reasons, both Angie and Nova knew that he was in a habit now of taking off for a few days at a time with his guitar. He had almost had to be re-arrested twice before he got the point.

"Yer know, you'd better take better care of yerself, Angie!" he mocked. "Maybe then, you wouldn t look so much like a blimp and wanna be outta yer shoes and pants all the time! I get yer knocked up, and fer what? For you to be an idiot!"

"I can' t help it! I'm carrying your son, you idiot! I'm calling Clive, and I want him out here to help us!" Angie sobbed back.

"My _cousin_?" yelled Bryan as Nova and Dawn looked on in shock. Dawn looked at Nova, who nodded, and whispered, "He needs another talking to...wait here."

"Yes, your cousin! He said he'd want to come to the States to help if he could. He knows what you are going through with your upcoming trial and all that!" Angie snapped back.

"Don't mention that in public! I'm warnin' ya!" yelled Bryan.

Nova came up and stared down Bryan and said, "Mister Hartcliffe, if I remember correctly, you beat her in public that time in that shuttle. Everyone in San Diego knows you are finally standing the General Court-Martial you demanded at the end of this month for that gross offense, so stop the charade already! I met your cousin Clive once almost seven years ago, when I was on a world tour after we came back from Iscandar when Derek was off in space on the Argo on that one-year patrol. Your cousin was a gentleman and a pleasant person to be around. Unlike you."

"Yeah, right! Let me charmin' cousin steal Angie' s heart away?"

"He would not do that, he is not that sort!" Nova said. "He knew about Derek and I and never made a move on me in late 2200." Nova did not mention that Clive had warned her about his cousin Bryan and his drunken, disgusting ways over a platonic dinner one night in London, but she knew when to keep her mouth shut. "So, why not let him stay over for a few days after Richie is born?"

"What do you think of that, Richie?" Angie said as she talked to her stomach. She smiled a little and said, "I think he likes the idea, Bryan. He just kicked me."

"Yer stupid, thinkin' you can talk to a hunk of protoplasm in your stomach!" snapped Bryan.

"That hunk of protoplasm is your son, who is already complete right down to his little toenails!" snapped Angie as tears ran down her cheeks. Nova hugged her, but Bryan did nothing except for walking away with his back turned to his wife and almost-born son. He began throwing pebbles into a fountain as Nova whispered, "Has he been drinking again? He's not allowed to."

"Not that I know of," whispered Angie. "I'm not sure what he does late at night, though, when I cry myself to sleep..."

"Why do you think we need your cousin out here?" Nova said as Dawn sat nearby, looking neglected and depressed. "Things will work out," Nova said as she looked at Angie and then at Dawn.

"Yeah, right," said Dawn.

**II. MALE BONDING**

**Earth**

**The San Diego Megalopolis**

**The Wildstars' Apartment**

**Thursday, February 11, 2208**

**1602 Hours Local Time**

Commodore Derek Wildstar had just gotten into the apartment from the _Argo_ about half an hour ago, and he was alone, having changed out of his uniform into grubby old clothes.

Upon checking the phone, he found a message from Nova stating that she was done with her shift but was waiting for either Katrina or Dawn to show up to help her get Alex and Ariel out of daycare and into her aircar. Also, Nova asked if he could order out for food; she was too tired to cook tonight.

Satisfied with knowing where most of his family was, Derek found himself looking over a menu from a Chinese takeout place that both he and Nova liked. He was trying to decide whether he wanted Moo Shu Pork with pancakes or a Subgum Wonton Seafood special for himself when the apartment door burst open and Jonathan came in.

"Jon, you're late!" teased Derek as the boy got out of his school sandals and shrugged off his uniform blazer. "No kiss for your dad?"

"C'mon, Dad, I'm too old to kiss you!" joked back Jonathan when he ran in. "That's the sort of stuff my baby brother Alex does! Where's Mom? I'm hungry!"

"Your mother's tired; we're ordering Chinese food tonight," said Derek as he tossed him the Moon Panda Garden menu. Derek got up and stretched, looking lean and sleek in his gym shorts, bare feet, and t-shirt. Jonathan ran in with his school tie half undone and his shirt buttoned down over his grey shorts. He grabbed the menu from his dad and said, "Eight egg rolls for me. That's about it."

"Eight egg rolls," said Derek. "Junk food?"

"Egg rolls are not junk food, Dad! And you eat most of the egg rolls whenever we order out. Mom looks at you funny."

"She looks at _you _funny, squirt," teased Derek as he slapped his son playfully in the head.

"Yeah?" teased Jonathan. "I learned some wrestling tricks in gym today. Wanna try me out?"

"I'm not sure I want to wrestle now," yawned Derek. "I want a beer, to be honest."

"Oh, Dad's getting old? The big hero is getting _old_?"

"_You're on_!" yelled Derek as he tossed aside the food menu. Jonathan and he began to circle around the living room, jumping at each other when the time was right.

They met in the middle of the floor with a crash. Derek tried to pin Jonathan, but the teenager had gotten stronger since they had sprung him from the orphanage some months ago. Also, he was smaller, thinner, and more wriggly than his father. He squiggled out of two holds, and had his father laughing as he jumped on Derek's back and began pulling his hair. However, Derek was not letting his son pin him.

Someone's bare leg knocked over a small end table and a metal fruit bowl and the fruit went flying. Derek laughed as he tried to pin Jonathan again, but saw his son just wriggle free.

The two of them wrestled and knocked more things over for another few minutes. They did not notice the door opening, and they didn't notice Nova and Katrina holding Alex and Ariel and looking down at them with a mixture of bemusement and annoyance until Derek looked up and said, "WHOOPS!"

"And what were you two doing?" Nova asked as she held Alex.

"Inspecting the floor, Mom," said Jonathan.

"It looked like you were _both_ wrestling," said Katrina dubiously as Derek jumped up and kissed Nova and Alex.

"We were inspecting the floor, Nova, honest," said Derek. "Then..._uhh_ we got carried away, and..."

"Didn't I tell you two to take your wrestling matches out into the yard?" Nova snapped.

"Does this happen often?" said Katrina.

"More often than you'd know," Nova said as she mussed Derek's hair and then pulled Jonathan over to kiss him. "These two boys here are both a little idiotic when it gets hot!"

"Of course, I do _different_ things to you," Derek said with a grin as he grabbed Nova's bare legs. A minute later, the barefoot, nurse's-tunic clad young mother was being tickled like crazy as she held Alex.

Alex cooed and crawled out of his mommy s lap. Nova squealed, "Alex, help your mother! HELP!" Nova was soon squealing with laughter as Derek was tickling her ribs. Then, Nova winked at Katrina, and did a quick wrestling move of her own, and the great Derek Wildstar found himself pinned by his fast, slender young wife, who got on top of him and began to tickle him until he yelled.

Alex laughed like crazy, and Ariel screamed with giggles. Then, the little girl added to the noise by banging a few chords on a tinkly baby toy piano that her parents left around. Then, she found a ring toy and threw a few rings at Jonathan while going _**PHHHHHBBBBT**_ and blowing raspberries loudly with her tongue.

"Is it just me, or has everyone in here gone crazyish?" Katrina laughed.

She sat on the floor bemused as she watched all five Wildstars tickling each other, making noises, wrestling, or throwing baby toys around in what looked like organized chaos as Nova yelled, "Derek, where'd you put that Moon Panda Garden Menu?"

"I dunno," said Derek in reply.

**III. BRYAN, BRINGER OF CHAOS**

**Earth**

**The San Diego Megalopolis **

**The Wildstars' Apartment **

**Thursday, February 11, 2208 **

**1745 Hours Local Time**

"So what are you doing in town, Katrina?" asked Derek a while later after he had called out for food and after it had arrived.

"Work, and I miss Foxy," sighed Katrina.

"Work?" asked Nova as she sat on the floor with Alex in her lap. Nova had changed into an old sweater and bikini bottoms; she was alternating between feeding little Alex some baby food from a small dish and offering her breast to him.

"You remember that I work for the _Jane's Aerospace Magazine_," said Katrina as she sat with Ariel in her lap. Ariel was giggling as Katrina occassionally dangled a jangly toy above her head. "I had to come into the office this week to catch up on some work I could not send home to my home office via the Web. I also had to visit some ships because I m doing an article on the refits going on here in town."

Derek rolled up his eyes at that one; earlier that week, on the under-refit _Argo_, Katrina had interviewed him in his cabin for close to an hour. Derek had responded to her questions as best as he possibly could without giving anything away. He was eating some Moo Shu Pork at the moment, and was trying to keep from dropping it on the floor as Jonathan sat beside him wolfing down roast pork fried rice. "Yes, we know that, Katrina. Or, _I_ know that."

"Why didn't you tell me, Derek?" said Nova as she worked on some orange-flavored chicken herself as she gave Alex her breast.

"I forgot?" said Derek. Nova playfully kicked him with a bare foot just as the doorbell rang.

"May I put her down for a moment?" said Katrina as she handed Ariel to Jonathan.

He nodded, and Katrina ran up to open the door. As she opened the door, she was shocked to see Foxy standing there!

"Wha...?" said Katrina, at a loss for words as Foxy smiled at her.

"I followed you here to the States."

"Why?" whispered Katrina.

"I missed you, silly!" said Foxy.

Both of them hugged hard on the threshold of the townhouse, sobbing slightly with joy as they kissed.

Then, a moment later, Katrina pulled back, in just enough time to see a sobbing Angie Hartcliffe running up to the townhouse, holding her stomach.

"What's happening?" asked Katrina as Angie ran up the steps to the porch as quickly as possible.

"My stomach hurts! It really hurts! I need to see Nova!" Angie cried.

Nova sat up (with both Alex and Ariel at her breasts now) in enough time to see Angie running into the living room, crying her eyes out. She looked very pale.

"Nova! I need to have someone look at me! Bryan's laughing at me, but I know this is no joke! My stomach hurts! I..."

"Did he hit you again?" Nova hissed as she took the babies away from her breasts and buttoned her sweater up over her slender tanned form. She handed her children to Derek and got up, pulling up her knit swimswuit bottom up a little to make sure she'd be decent.

"Nova, I want to go to the hospital, but he's laughing at me! I need someone to look at me! NOW!"

"Come on into the bathroom," said Nova. "We'll get a look at this. I'll have to get your pants down..."

Angie nodded as, at the door, Katrina's eyes narrowed as two aircars whirred up to the driveway in front of Derek and Nova's townhouse, with one of the cars almost hitting the rear bumper of Nova's car. A wild-haired young man jumped out of that car and ran up towards the porch, yelling, "ANGIE! Yo, ANGIE? Are you there, you crazy bloody bird?"

Someone jumped out of the second car, yelling, "STOP CALLLING HER THAT!" Derek pushed aside Foxy, to notice Bryan Hartcliffe about to jump up onto his porch, with Deke Wakefield on his heels. Sasha came behind him, running as fast as her pregnant bulk would allow her to move.

Katrina looked at Bryan, and noticed his disheveled appearance and swore she could smell the alcohol on his breath. "You're drunk!" she hissed.

"You're not getting in here, you son-of-a-BITCH!" snapped Derek.

"Where's me wife?" he yelled. "Crazy bird's actin like 'er 'ead is screwed on bloody crooked!"

"Your wife is pregnant," snapped Derek.

"Let me in to her!" yelled Bryan. He actually tried to shove past Derek when he heard her screaming.

Deke ran up, snapping, "You hit my car, Hartcliffe! And you didn't even stop!"

Derek punched Bryan in the head when the crazed pilot tried to tackle the Commodore and to punch Katrina, but Katrina kicked him as he reached into the house to grab a porcelain knick-knack of Nova's to try to hit Derek in the head.

Then, Deke tackled Hartcliffe and punched him, yelling, "How dare you hit my car with my pregnant wife in it?"

Derek kicked him and said, "How dare you try to knock over a superior officer?"

"How dare you try to hit a woman?" yelled Katrina.

Nova ran up with wet hands and said, "Bryan, you need your head examined! How dare YOU neglect your wife when she's in labor?"

"Labor? You mean she's gonna pop 'er cork?"

Nova slapped him across the face as she said. "YES! ANGIE'S WATER JUST BROKE! IN MY BATHROOM! We have to get her to the hospital!"

"Oh, bugger," said Bryan.

"Well, there goes our romantic dinner for the night," sighed Foxy as he looked at Katrina.

"Let me at him, Nova!" Katrina hissed.

"Later," said Nova. "We have to get Angie to the hospital." Then, Angie screamed again. "Before she has her baby in our living room, that is..."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Chapter 2

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****---****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---_Freddo_

**PART TWO: ENTER CLIVE…**

**I. AGONY**

**Earth**

**The San Diego Megalopolis**

**San Diego Central Hospital**

**Friday, February 12, 2208**

**1125 Hours Local Time**

"C'mon, PUSH!" Doctor Sane yelled in Angie Hartcliffe's ear.

In the maternity suite, Angie, who was shaking, sweaty, and clad in nothing but her bra, shook her head and said, "I can't push any more."

"TRY!" barked Sane.

Angie bore down and began to sob. "I've been trying the past hour! Nothing is happening! I'm too tired!"

"You've been in labor for twenty hours," said Doctor Kei Stuart as she held her hand. Sasha Wakefield held her other hand, trying to offer psychic comfort in the scrub dress she had donned over her own pregnant stomach.

It had been Nova's idea. Nova and Tasha Cleveland were assisting Sane and Stuart in what was turning out to be a very unsuccessful labor. _The baby's pulse rate is dropping again_, Nova thought with disquiet as she watched the fetal monitor connected to Angie's bare stomach.

Doctor Sane drank from his sake' bottle, slapped one of his geta-clad feet against the floor, and said, "If we can't get you to dilate more, we're going to have to go in and do a C-Section on you!"

"Why didn't you do one already?" gasped Angie as Nova responded to Sane's nod and ran to again set up the anesthsiologist's unit kept in reserve.

"You said you wanted to keep on trying around 0800," said Doctor Kei Stuart. "This time, if we can't get you to deliver in the next thirty minutes or so, or that baby's pulse rate goes down too far…"

"Threshold!" snapped Cleveland as she looked at the sensor, which began to beep. Sane gave Sasha a withering look, and she stepped away. Cleveland quickly undid Angie's bra from the front and stripped her entirely nude as she attached more sensors to her breasts as Nova got the necessary sterile drapes ready. Then, she finished programming the anesthesia unit as IQ-9 ran over, pushing a tray of stainless steel surgical instruments that made Angie shiver at the sight of them, even as Cleveland painted her lower abdomen again with some fresh Betadine.

Nova and Stuart finished programming the anesthesia unit, and Nova loomed over Angie's head with the mask. Sasha was beginning to look white. So was Angie.

Nova took a look at the readouts and thought, I_f we don't have this baby out in the next forty minutes, this might end up being a stillbirth. My God!_

"Nova, get Sasha out of here…she'll just be in the way now!" Sane barked.

"Sasha, go out and tell Deke and Bryan what's going on; neither of them can get back in here again now," Nova said. Nova then pivoted on her sandaled toes and said to Angie, "A few puffs on this, and you won't feel anything else…"

"I want to be awake!" screamed Angie. "AWAKE!"

"We can't have that now…we have to get Richie out of you," Nova said. "He's not very well now." _He might be dying,_ Nova thought. _The same for you, too, if your pulse drops much more…_

The mask came down over Angie's face as Sasha stepped out of the labor suite, hearing instruments clinking as the buzz of the laser knife came up in the background. The last thing Sasha heard was Sane barking, "Stuart, a Number Two Montrell Spreader, please! Ready it. Nova, ready venous sedation for the patient!"

"Yes, Doctor," Nova said as Sasha got out of there.

In the waiting room outside, Bryan Hartcliffe sat like a dead man between two Shore Patrol guards. He was handcuffed to one of them, and he was very bruised up and bloodied.

At the other end of the couch, Deke Wakefield sat smoking a cigarette, looking daggers at Hartcliffe. "To think I had to drag you in there twice to see your own wife," he said. "You lousy piece of crap!"

"I'm scared o' this," Bryan said. "That's why I've been drinkin' again, man. Scared. Bloody scared!"

"And, thus, your probation is revoked, for drunk and disorderly," snapped one of the Shore Patrol men. "You are going right back up to the Treasure Island Brig after you see your son born, Mister," said the sergeant. "And you have new charges. DUI, assaulting a friendly alien, assaulting three superior officers, leaving the scene of an aircar accident, speeding…they're going to be so happy for you at your court-martial, man."

Hartcliffe screamed and banged on the arm of his chair, and then he threw his face in his hands and sobbed.

"Me whole life's been like this! Lost me mum at twelve, almost got booted outta the Academy twice, got another bird preggers…"

"What happened to the baby?" asked Wakefield in a dull voice, feeling pity for Hartcliffe at his bad choices, but also noting he could have risen above his bad breaks just as he himself had risen above his own mistakes and offenses in the Academy.

"It _died_!" yelled Bryan. "Now, wi' Angie, she's…"

Sasha came out a minute later, shaking her head.

"Oh, no, don't tell me…"

"The baby and Angie are in danger," said Sasha in a flat, dull, tired voice as she came to Deke's arms. "They sent me out of there to do a C-Section. No one's had a break for twenty hours, except when they gave Nova a break to care for Alex and Ariel and feed them at 0600."

"A C-SECTION!?" yelled Bryan.

"It means they're taking your son out of her," said Deke in what he hoped was a soothing voice. "He should be all right…"

"Where's Wildstar?" said Bryan. "Man, I gotta tell him I'm sorry, he'll get me off, and…"

"Too late," said one of the Shore Patrol Guards. "We were called by others, besides. Like that female doctor after you tried to slam her through the wall at 0200 after she threw you out of there. Besides, Commodore Wildstar went home with his children at 0700. He is probably sleeping by now…"

"Sleeping?" said Derek as he came back into the room with Jonathan. Jonathan was carrying Alex, while Derek carried Ariel. Deke noticed that Wildstar looked as if he hadn't had a shave and was wearing a t-shirt and cutoff shorts with flip-flops. Little Ariel wore only a frilly pink baby girl's blouse and her diaper. "How can you sleep when your kids are crying and Mom's in the OR? Luckily, Jon and I figured out why they were crying…"

"Diapers," yawned Jonathan, who had on surfer baggies and a t-shirt with no shoes; at fifteen, he could just about get away with running around barefoot in a beach community (his father had also interrupted him from waxing the brand new surfboard he was getting to use in the strange heat of February). "Dad's letting me play hookey from school today to help out." He hugged his brother Alex, who was trying to creep up him, showing a bit of tummy between his little black and gold Black Tigers t-shirt and his diaper as his little bare legs kicked. Unknown to Alexander, he would wear that uniform for real someday as one of the _Argo's_ pilots when he got older.

"Wildstar," said Hartcliffe as he looked at Derek. "I'm under arrest! You've gotta let me go!"

"For what?" said Derek as he juggled his giggling daughter.

"Probation violations and more assault charges, sir," said one of the Shore Patrol Guards. "He should actually be in the brig now, but we're letting him stay here under guard just long enough to see his son born."

"Let me _go_, sir!" yelled Bryan.

"SHUT UP!" barked Wildstar as Ariel jumped in his arms. Then, she began to cry. As her father tried to soothe her, Wildstar came up to Hartcliffe and said, "You're waiting for your boy to be born. What is your _problem_? Why are you set on wrecking your life?"

"Pissed at the world," snapped Bryan.

Then, Bryan really sneered as his near-twin came into the room.

Derek looked at the newcomer, who was carrying an overnight bag. He had much shorter hair than Bryan had, a moustache, and round Beatle glasses of his own. However, he had a much neater appearance. He dropped the bag and saluted Wildstar, saying in a Scouse accent similar to Bryan's, but not as heavy, "Clive Hartcliffe, at your service, _sir._"

Wildstar turned and said, "You're his cousin? I've heard of you from Nova."

"Where is she?" said Clive.

Deke Wakefield got up and gestured towards the delivery room, which now had a red light on over the door. "In there, helping deliver his son behind the sterile isolation field."

Sasha was holding onto Deke, and she looked as if she was close to tears.

"_How_?" said Sasha. "Bryan Hartcliffe, how could you treat your wife and son like that…delaying in getting them here to the hospital to be cared for…?"

"I thought she was messin' about, and…" Bryan began, but Clive gave him a withering look and said, "Just like you've always never taken a woman seriously, you…"

A moment later, Doctor Sane came out, looking very tired. "It's over," he said.

"Over?" said Derek.

Sane nodded. "We were just in time. Mister Bryan Hartcliffe, you have a son. He's a little small, though. He'll be with his mother in about two hours when she wakes up, but then he will be in the Newborn ICU unit for a few days since he seems to have a little trouble breathing. When Angie wakes up, you can meet him…"

"Then we can take him with us?" said one of the Shore Patrol Guards.

"Correct," said Sane.

**II. AN UNEASY MEETING**

**Earth**

**The San Diego Megalopolis**

**San Diego Central Hospital**

**Room 1425**

**Friday, February 12, 2208**

**1340 Hours Local Time**

Sasha recognized the room where Angie Hartcliffe now lay on sight…it was the same room that Nova and Katrina had shared back in September.

Only, now, the scene was different as Angie Hartcliffe lay there in a hospital gown, woozily holding her new son, who was wrapped in a blue baby blanket.

"That's 'im?" said Bryan as he looked at his wife.

"Yes, that's him," said one of the Shore Patrol guards.

"He looks a little funny," said Clive. "His skin tone…it's off…"

Near the bed, Nova Wildstar, who now wore a white lab coat that went down to her knees, said, "That's because he has some jaundice. His liver function is a little off. In fact, after his mother gives him lunch, he'll have to lie under the lights for a while. Ariel, who was in her arms with her little top off in the warm room, cooed in agreement.

"He's beautiful," said Angie as she unwrapped him with Nova's help. Unwrapped, he was naked except for a small baby cap and an identification bracelet, but other than his slightly small size and his jaundice, his little body was perfect from his nose to his chest to his tummy, down to his little boyhood and his legs and toes.

"How do I feed him?" whispered Angie.

Nova tenderly helped Angie out of her hospital gown, and then sat on the bed with her, trying to show her how to put the baby to one of her bare breasts. Angie finally succeeded, but she had a hard time latching him own, so Nova finally sighed and opened her own lab coat (she wore nothing beneath it herself, having showered off the blood of the operation just a few minutes beforehand) and she then put Ariel up to one of her own bare breasts, showing Angie how a baby would latch on. A moment later, Bryan stood there stroking his son's tummy and side as he fed.

"He's beautiful," said Bryan in a choked-up voice.

"Too bad you can't be here to see him much longer," said Angie as she looked at him. "They tell me you have to go away for a while."

"I do…for all the stupid things I've done….I…"

"I'll take care of her and him while you begin to pay your debts to your service and to society," said Clive Hartcliffe in a reassuring tone of voice as he also stroked the baby. "When you're back, I'm sure you can start a new life…"

Bryan noticed uneasily that his son seemed to be focusing on Clive more than on him.

"Time to go," said one of the Shore Patrol men.

"Angie…" said Bryan. "I'm sorry…I…I love yer…"

He tried to kiss her cheek, but she turned away slightly, with a sad smile on her face.

"Bryan," she said in a sleepy voice. "Now's not the time. We're not exactly…a happy couple.." she said just as Derek hugged Nova while trying to keep her lab coat over her enough to cover her semi-nakedness as his daughter fed from her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Bryan.

"It's obvious we're going to be separated the next few months," said Angie. "We'll talk more at a later time…"

"Clive…I…"

"You have to go, mate," said Clive. "Don't worry. I'll be like a cousin to her."

The Shore Patrol men watched as Bryan wrapped up his son again in his blanket. "Right…goodbye, Richie…"

But, his son turned away from him, whimpering as he hid his face in his mother's breast. Nova quickly buttoned her lab coat back up with Derek's help as she burped Ariel. Bryan looked at Angie with a stricken expression as she just waved weakly to him as he was gently but firmly walked out of the room by the Shore Patrol men. No one said goodbye to him or offered him any funny bubblegum cigars or a card as the accused officer was walked down the hall.

"Well?" said Angie.

"I'll stay with you to help," said Clive.

"Thanks," said Angie, who was softly crying as she thought about what might have been with Bryan at that moment.

Nova then handed Ariel to her father and kissed Derek while she helped Angie back into her hospital gown. Then, she took little Richie and wrapped him up, saying, "He has to go back to the nursery for a while to lie under a little artificial sunlight to help him with that jaundice. He'll get his first diaper on after he's done."

"Will he be okay?" whispered Angie.

"I believe so," said Doctor Sane. "He's still somewhat weak. Just give him some time."

Angie nodded, smiling through her tears as he son was taken away from her. Deke noticed that Clive was holding her hand as she began to go back to sleep.

Later that afternoon, the sun was very hot and bright on the beach near their townhouse where Nova lay on a beach towel beside Derek. Derek wore only his cutoffs as he lay beside Nova, putting suntan lotion on his young wife's stomach. At the moment, Nova was feeding Alex at one of her bare breasts; her discarded lab coat and sandals were nearby as she lay there sunning in the nude with her naked baby boy on her tummy.

"He's getting so big," said Derek as he held Ariel in his lap.

Nova nodded. "Isn't he wonderful? He sure is growing fast. He takes after his father. Look at our other son. I think he has a girlfriend," teased Nova.

Derek looked down at the water's edge. Jonathan was on his surfboard, clumsily riding a wave in his baggies while a redheaded girl in a pink bikini looked on, sitting on her own surfboard; namely, Felicia Carmody. Felicia and Jonathan were finding more and more opportunities to get together, now. A minute later, Jonathan wiped out, and Felicia jumped into the water to "rescue" him.

"Looks like he needed rescuing again," said Nova as she shook her head in amusement. "I wonder if he's that clumsy on purpose?"

"I don't think so," said Derek. "Gives them a nice opportunity to hug, doesn't it? Is that why he does it?"

Nova smiled and nodded. "I know another young man who is sometimes just as inept on a surfboard himself. A certain twenty-nine year old."

Derek blushed, smiling as Nova brought up their small age difference; the young mother had just turned thirty earlier in the month. Derek would not reach thirty until July.

"I feel bad for Hartcliffe," sighed Derek. "It'll be a long time before he can lie like this on the beach with his wife and his son."

"Derek, he made his bed. He just has to sleep in it now._ If_ their marriage endures, that is…"

"IF?"

Nova nodded sadly as she cuddled Alex's little round bottom. "She's tiring of him. But who can blame her? Mmm….I like that," Nova whispered as Derek's hand rubbed suntan lotion on her hip. "I…Derek…does your hand _have_ to go there?" she whispered.

"Nova, it will burn unless I get lotion on it. Relax…"

"Maybe I should have put a _fundoshi_ on?" whispered Nova.

"I know this makes you happy…" whispered Derek.

"It does…the problem is, very soon, I may not want you to put tanning lotion anywhere else…"

They heard Jonathan and Felicia's laughter a few moments later, so Nova covered her hips with her coat like a loincloth as Derek kissed her. "Later?" he whispered.

"Later," Nova said. "There's always the shower. I _will _need help getting that sand washed off my butt."

"And?"

"I'm sure you can figure out the rest…"

**TO BE CONTINUED….**


	3. Chapter 3

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****---****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---_Freddo_

**PART THREE: PINK ELEPHANTS AND WOZZLES…**

**I. TRIAL**

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**Earth Defense Headquarters**

**March 23, 2208**

**1125 Hours Local Time**

Over a month had passed.

Bryan Hartcliffe was finally receiving the final court-martial he had earned for assaulting his own pregnant wife the previous fall.

So far, the trial was proving to be a circus.

Hartcliffe, not remembering the dictum that "_any man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client_", was acting as his own counsel, and he was using that opportunity to "get back at his beast friends", as he so miserably put it.

The Court-Martial board in his case consisted of one Admiral Dykins, along with Eager, Todd Voorhees, Diane Henson, and Cory Conroy.

They were getting sick of his antics.

On the stand, enduring about a second day worth of pointless cross-examination, was Nova Wildstar, whose clear eyewitness account of what had happened on that transport (brought forth by the prosecutor, a Lieutenant Deanna Schmidt) was being torn to bits by Hartcliffe.

"Okay. You said you saw me yellin' at Angie like a madman, right, luv?"

"My name is not luv, it is Lieutenant Commander Wildstar, counsellor" snapped Nova, who was wondering, _Why are they letting this idiot be his own lawyer?_ While she did so, she sat drumming her fingers on the rail around the witness stand.

"I said, you saw me yellin' at Angie?" yelled Bryan. "Didn't ya, ya FISHWIFE?"

"Objection," snapped Schmidt. "Badgering the witness."

"Objection sustained, Mister Hartcliffe," said Admiral Dykins. "Need we remind you that this is the tenth time this Court has had to admonish you for this conduct, with this same witness. Proceed, and remember that the witness is a higher-ranking officer than you, Lieutenant."

"You saw me yelling at Angie?" began Bryan.

"Yes. I did. You also accused me of doing something kinky when I was nursing my son. You also woke my daughter, slapped your wife in the head, and then punched her like a prizefighter. You were about to kick her in the stomach, kick a pregnant woman in the stomach, mind you, when Sasha Wakefield kicked you in the crotch. A kick you deserved. A kick I would have given you had I not been occupied with my children."

"Where'd I punch Angie?" demanded Bryan.

Nova pointed to the right side of her own head. "Right here. And you could have caved her skull in doing so. The impact also knocked her out of her seat to the deck where she lay stunned like a rag doll. I went over all of this before. Your actions took maybe one minute and twenty seconds from when you began the altercation by insulting me. When you act like a thug against a pregnant woman and a mother, you act very fast."

Hartcliffe went on and on and on, for about a good thirty-five minutes. Nova thought, at one point, _He would be a pretty good lawyer if his arguments weren't so much bullcrap._

Finally, the ordeal was over, and Nova was allowed to come down from off the stand. She sat down beside Derek, who whispered, "That took too long."

"You're telling me," she said. "I think I would have rather been fighting Desslok again than doing this."

"You and me both," Derek replied as he patted her hand.

Admiral Dykins slammed down his gavel and snapped, "We're going to recess this Court for this afternoon. We shall reconvene at 1100 Hours tomorrow morning. Dismissed!"

Eager came down from the panel he had been sitting at, and as Nova stood up and yawned in her EDF Administration Section whites, he said, "Ah feel like this trial ain't ever gonna end! It ain't fair!"

"No, it's _not_," Nova said as she yawned again. "I need coffee. Derek, I wonder how Alex and Ariel are doing?"

"I've been checking the messages from your mother," Derek said. "She's in a minor panic."

Nova nodded as Angie Hartcliffe came up to her and said, "Thank you, Nova."

"For what?" Nova said.

"For not backing down to Bryan or to his damn lawyer," snapped Angie as she picked up a pencil and snapped it in two. "I _hate_ him," she said as Bryan's cousin Clive came up to her and laid his hands on her shoulders. "Was he ever right in the head?"

"Before his father died in the Gamilon War, he was a halfway decent lad," said Clive. "Then, he began getting into trouble right after that…"

Bryan, who was talking with his guards, overheard and said, "Yeah, mate. Losin' your parents in the war can make anyone messed up in the head. Most people who lost their mum or dad in the war are messed up like me. What excuse do we 'ave? Desslok friggin' took away our childhood. No wonder we're messed up!"

Derek Wildstar snapped shut his cell phone and said, "Hartcliffe, are you saying that everyone who has lost their parents in the wars we've fought is a basket case?"

"Ye're right, sir. We are. I mean, look a' me…look at you…"

"Look at my rank," snapped Derek. "These shoulder boards on my uniform. What do you see?"

"Scrambled eggs and gold braid and stars, mate. Scrambled eggs, oh, my lady I just love your legs!"

Wildstar glared at him and said, "I've lost both of my parents and I have flag rank, a command, a wife, and three wonderful children. What do you have?"

"A fishwife, a kid I never see, and handcuffs, man," said Bryan as the Shore Patrol guards put the cuffs on him. "Angie, Nova, like these bracelets? You can get ones just like these if yer'd come and kick me arse!"

"No thank you," said Angie firmly as she wiped her eyes. "I wouldn't want bracelets like that."

"I don't go around beating people up," Nova sniffed. "Come on, Derek," she said as she grabbed her husband's hand and put her nose up in the air. "I know when we're not wanted!"

As the Wildstars walked off, Diane Henson looked at Bryan and said, "You are among three of the most pathetic people I've ever met."

"Thank you, I like the compliment," he said as he turned towards Angie with his lips pursed. "Give us a kiss, luv!"

Angie glared at him and slapped him across the face, falling into Clive's arms as she stumbled out of one of her clogs.

"Oh, is that the way it is?" he snapped at Angie and Clive as he glared at his cousin. "Robbin' the bloody nest, huh, CUZ?"

"The nest we speak of is one you've bloody abandoned," said Clive.

"Well, I'll deal with this…one way or another!" yelled Hartcliffe as the Shore Patrol guards dragged him out of the courtroom by his handcuffs. "I'll deal with this! You're both DONE! Both of you! DONE!" he ranted.

Todd Voorhees watched the scene and said to Admiral Dykins, "Propensity for violence?"

"Propensity for instability, severe," murmured Dykins. "Should that man ever be in the cockpit of a Tiger again, you think?"

Voorhees shook his head.

"Mister Eager?" said Dykins.

"Hell, no," he whispered.

"Sir, can we reconvene?" said Cory Conroy in his heavy accent.

"Not until tomorrow; I've already dismissed the Court," said Dykins as he walked out, glancing at the Wildstars as they were handed a little boy and a little girl by a woman with dark hair who looked somewhat unhappy. He glanced at Nova bouncing her daughter a little as the officer exchanged one of her own dress pumps for a low walking sandal and he said, 'We've inconvenienced the witnesses and spectators enough with this business. We'll reconvene when I said we would reconvene…"

"Not a bad thought, sir," said Diane Henson.

**II. RECESS**

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**The Vicinity of Earth Defense Headquarters**

**March 23, 2208**

**1249 Hours Local Time**

A few minutes later, Nova was walking down a pathway in a park not far from EDF HQ, having doffed her uniform coat and ascot, with her EDF blouse open somewhat as her daughter discreetly took her milk at her breast. "I wonder why they have to make these skirts so short," she murmured as the sun hit her bare legs as she walked.

"Ariel's?" said Nova's mother as she looked at her granddaughter's sundress. "A baby's skirt is always short, and…"

"No, mine," Nova snapped. "It seems worse when you have that coat off, somehow. Thanks for bringing the flats, Mom…they make it easier to walk when you're carrying a squirm-germ…"

"Anytime," said Teri Forrester. She looked hard at Derek and said, "You two cannot neglect your son and daughter for these military affairs…"

"We were both needed and wanted in that Court," snapped Derek as he carried his son, who was sleeping. "Your husband's a lawyer. You should appreciate the inevitability of a summons. Even a creep like me who lost both of his parents," he snapped bitterly.

"Derek, don't let what Bryan said affect you," Nova responded. "Bryan is a degenerate from the wrong side of the tracks."

"Is he that man who they dragged out while he was yelling?" said Teri.

Nova nodded.

"I remember him now. He was leering at you on your wedding day, Nova. At you, when to my knowledge, he was already married. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind…"

"Why didn't you?" Nova said.

"Dear, I remember that trouble your Aunt Yvona was giving then. I didn't want to cause more trouble…"

"In hindsight, maybe you need to cause some trouble," said Derek as Alex yawned and woke up. "Hiya, sport," Derek said. "How are you?"

The baby boy, in his shorts and t-shirt, blinked at his father as he suddenly used a little sneakered foot to kick at him. "Getting feisty, huh, Alex?"

He reached towards his little barefoot sister and made a squealing noise. Nova looked at him, smiled, and said, "We're in the park…you'll have to wait your turn if you're hungry, Alexander!"

Derek looked around, just in time to see Sandor approaching hand-in-hand with Diane Henson. "Wildstar. Were you in Court today?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah…what's up?"

"I wanted to let you know that we got most of the Second-Stage work on the _Argo_ finished today," said Sandor. "I just got back from San Diego. She'll be ready for an all-up test flight in the next seventy-two hours…"

"How far?" said Derek.

"Out of the sea, up above the atmosphere, test warp to Mars, a few shots at the firing range in the Asteroid Belt, and return home. Some of the crew's in town….estimated time of the cruise, six hours; date…the twenty-fifth. Sir, do we have a Captain?"

Derek grinned. "Now that's a good reason to get out of the house! And on a Friday, too…"

"Nova, you're staying home…" said Teri.

"Mom, like the kids for a few hours? You can stay in San Diego in our place…"

"Nova, I…"

"Then I can get Katrina to watch them," Nova said brightly. "Or Sasha…"

"You're paying for my plane tickets," snapped Teri. At that, everyone except her laughed, even Ariel, who was still latched onto her mother…

"Yikes!" Nova snapped. "Derek, your daughter bites!"

"Hey, she can laugh," said Derek. "You're laughing, too, Nova…"

"No, I'm not!" she said, aware that she was laughing…

**TO BE CONTINUED….**


	4. Chapter 4

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

**PART FOUR: TRIAL **

**I. A TRIAL ENDS**

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**Earth Defense Headquarters**

**Friday, April 1, 2208**

**1000 Hours Local Time**

More time had passed.

Bryan Hartcliffe's trial was adjourned until the previous day, which was the 31st. After his performance in Court on the 23rd, the Court had ordered him confined and held until the proper guards and equipment could be spared to hold Hartcliffe in a holding cage not far from the courtroom with an unbreakable one-way monitor in the cage. Also, a defense attorney was appointed for him after a psychiatrist had reported that Hartcliffe could not be considered competent enough to orchestrate his own defense any longer. These arrangements and motions and side motions took time. So, the Court finally convened again on the 31st, without Hartcliffe, with him held in the cell as his defense attorney, a Lieutenant Fujiko Inoue (another woman, an arrangement that Hartcliffe _really_ loved) presented the final evidence for their sides, and presented the last evidence in a sane, efficient manner, and finally wrapped up except for closing arguments on the early afternoon of the 31st after Lt. Inoue had presented a motion to quash the trial but to have Hartcliffe held as "not guilty, but criminally insane, to be mandated under Article 75B to indefinite treatment under confinement and dismissal from the EDF under Section Eight." The former pilot had heard that, and he went berserk like an _ape_ in his cell, screaming so loudly that his screams were heard in the courtroom.

The Court-Martial Board adjourned, and deliberated over Hartcliffe's psych file for two hours. When Conroy, Voorhees, Henson and the Admiral came back, they denied Lieutenant Inoue's motion to quash, and asked both sides to present their closing arguments. That was done by 1600, so they adjourned again to reconvene the next day to consider a verdict.

As a result, Hartcliffe was back in Court the next day at 0800 Hours, slightly sedated, but in his full Black Tiger uniform and blue peacoat with all of his medals and decorations and shaved for the first time in days, seated with his hands cuffed between two very big, burly Space Marines in the dock. Through his glasses, he looked out at the prosecutor, Lieutenant Schmidt, as she sat impassively at her table holding some papers. Across from her, her colleague, Lieutenant Inoue, made some notes on a laptop and sighed to herself. _This defendant has been one of the biggest idiots I have ever worked with,_ she said to herself. _I presented an Article 75B for him, because he would not plead guilty to lesser charges as I had almost set it up for him. Had he done that, he would have been busted to Ensign but been out of jail in 11 months and back with his family, sans his wings, but with a career left. Neither escape hatch worked. So, I am about to throw this…client…to the Mercy of the Court. Good luck. Because he deserves no mercy, especially with an attitude like his…_

Bryan then looked out at his former shipmates. Hardy sat there with his heavily pregnant wife, and Deke Wakefield also sat there with Sasha, who was still in an identical condition. Angie sat there with his cousin Clive, talking quietly. Eager sat there with Dash, and Sandor sat there with young Orion and with some of the other Black Tigers. Finally, Venture sat with Holly, and the two Wildstars sat together. All of them sat there in their full Star Force uniforms, and all of them looked very grim.

Finally, the bailiff snapped, "ALL RISE!" and the Court-Martial Board marched into the courtroom in one file behind Admiral Dykins. Dykins rang the traditional ship's bell before him with one rap of his gavel and said, "All of you will be seated except for the Defendant."

The Courtroom went silent as Admiral Dykins looked right at Hartcliffe and said, "Lieutenant Inoue, rise."

The young EDF Attorney stood while Admiral Dykins said, "Mister Hartcliffe, I want to let you know that we have come to a verdict in your case. Our verdict was unanimous. However, I want to let you know that we are prepared to quash our own judgment if you will accept the following bargain. Young man, you have a wife and child in this room. Consider them."

"No, I bloody don't, sir."

"Excuse me?" said Dykins.

"She's disowned me. _Bloody_ disowned me!"

"That's not necessarily true if you'd choose to get yourself clean!" screamed Angie. Hartcliffe turned to stare down his wife with a venomous stare, and Dykins clanged his bell for order.

"Mrs. Hartcliffe, while I understand the circumstances, please hold the peace with this man," said Dykins. "We have a legal proceeding to conclude, and as I note, you are still a military officer in the uniform of the First Star Force," he snapped. "Therefore, I order you to keep your peace!"

"Yessir," she said, bowing her head as fresh tears ran. She had recently been edging in her heart towards a difficult but necessary decision, both for her own peace and safety as well as for that of her son. _Bryan,_ she thought. _Let's see how you answer now. Admit your guilt, and drop that attitude, and you might get a last chance. Just admit to the Court and me you were wrong, and maybe, just maybe, we can start again. Maybe. I don't know yet. I know what Nova's told me, I know what Diane's told me, I know what Sasha and Dawn have told me, and I even know what Katrina, who is not here today because she is on assignment, has told me. All of you could be wrong, if he gets on his knees…and…._

Dykins looked at Hartcliffe and said, "Mister Hartcliffe, for the sake of clemency and your prior record as a Star Force member, we are prepared to drop our judgment against the greater charges you are on trial for if you will but plead guilty to simple assault. If you will plead guilty to that offense, the other charges, as we reiterate, will be dropped, and you will be sentenced to eleven months of confinement, administrative removal of your pilots' wings, and reduction in grade to Ensign, to be given an administrative post in Headquarters and mandatory alcohol counseling in a day facility upon your release. Will you accept this offer?"

The Court went silent as Hartcliffe stood in thought. Finally, he stared at the Court and said, "To hell with all of ya! I'm not guilty of crap! This was all some conspiracy by Angie and Nova and Sasha to have me screwed over! _Screw off_! This is Good Friday, and it's fittin' that today is the day you choose ta crucify _me_!"

Then, Hartcliffe tried to spit on the floor. Admiral Dykins banged his bell twice and had the Marines drag Hartcliffe back with a single gesture. Then, he stood.

"Very well, then! This Court unanimously finds you guilty as charged of the following offenses! To wit, you have been found guilty of: Felonious assault upon a superior officer in the First Degree, three counts! Insubordination in the First Degree, four counts! Spousal Abuse in the First Degree, two counts. Assault upon an indivividual with Felonious Intent to cause Deadly Harm in the First Degree, one count. Assault upon an Unborn Person with Intent to Murder, one count. You have been found guilty of eleven felony offenses. You have also been found guilty of one misdemeanor offense of Contempt of Court. Having been found guilty of eleven felony offenses and one misdemeanor, this Court sentences you to ceremonial expulsion from the Star Force, reduction in rank to Recruit Private E-1, the loss of all pay, privileges, pension benefits, and decorations, and imprisonment at Hard Military Labor in the outer Minerva Asteroid Belt for not less than ten and not more than twelve years, with a Dishonorable Discharge from the Earth Defense Forces, followed by Transport for Life as an Undesirable to the Barnard Colony. In my opinion, you are irredeemable, and I would prefer that you not breathe the air of this planet ever again after this week! You are dismissed. Commodore Wildstar, it is my understanding that the _Argo_ is prepared for a test flight again under peacetime conditions?"

"She is, sir," said Derek. "She will be taking off tomorriow at 1100 Hours." He and Nova had been preparing for this for the past few days. The Star Force would be going out into space again on trials to test the _Argo's_ systems now that her refit was almost over and she had been returned recently to home base in the repaired Tokyo Megalopolis. Due to their advanced pregnanices, Sasha and Dawn were going to remain home…staying together in the Wildstar home to babysit Alex, Ariel, and Richie Hartcliffe. Nova and Angie were not terribly anxious to leave their children with others for a week, but they knew it was necessary. The fact that they would now be transporting a single disgraced prisoner to the asteroid belt that had once been Planet Minerva made this one-week cruise even worse now.

"Marines, take this man to the _Argo_ to be confined to the Brig for transport. Commodore, after you and your crew deal with this man in your accustomed fashion, you are ordered to transport this Private under military guard to Asteroid Minerva Beta Number 506 where the Private will be handed over to the convict labor unit. You are dismissed. On that note, these proceedings are adjourned. Sergeant, take Private Hartcliffe out of here, and out of my sight!"

Angie closed her eyes and openly let Clive console her with a hug for the first time as the bell rang and Hartcliffe was half-walked, half-dragged from the Courtroom in a state of shock. His eyes did not meet those of his estranged wife as he passed her, but then, after she spoke quietly with Clive for a moment, she called out, "Bryan?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I have something to tell you," said Angie. "This has to be said before you are taken off to confinement and exile."

"And what thecrap is that?" snapped Bryan.

"I hope you enjoy all the time you'll be imprisoned and then exiled," Angie said. "Because you will do so _alone_. I pleaded for a last chance for you, but you threw it away. So, you shall be alone as you ask. You will never speak to Rich nor I again"

"I know I won't have ya there, ya damn bird!"

"No," said. Angie. "By alone, I mean unmarried. I am applying for an annulment of our marriage based upon the fact that you are now a convicted felon condemned to a multi-year sentence. For humanitarian reasons, the Family Court will probably grant it in a week or two."

"And you, Clive?" Bryan snapped. "I bet you'll be takin' advantage of this?"

"I will be there for her," said Clive. "Because in her vulnerable emotional state, she needs a companion…and her son needs a father. Due to that, I asked her to marry me some weeks after the annulment is laid down in Court, and she has accepted. So, this is goodbye, Bryan. You have made your bed. Go sleep in it. And don't expect any help from the rest of the family in Britain. We have decided to wash our hands of you. I pray you fancy that!"

"Angie? Clive?" Bryan yelled as they turned away from him, never again to speak to him. "Captain?" he said to Wildstar.

"I have a few words to say to you, but in the course of duty, only," said Wildstar. "You will meet us on the foredeck of the _Argo_ at high noon so that we can begin to carry out the Court's sentence."

"What part of the sentence?" said Bryan.

"Something I've only seen performed once before, but something you deserve," Nova snapped. "You've been sentenced to take the March of Shame, Hartcliffe. We will all publicly disown you there. Men, take him away."

Bryan then screamed and yelled as he was dragged from the courtroom to begin to drink of the bitter dregs that he had chosen.

**II. EXCOMMUNICATION**

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**Friday, April 1, 2208**

**1200 Hours Local Time**

On the _Argo_, all of the crewmembers who had survived her last mission stood at attention, rank upon rank, before gun turret #1, now repaired and shining.

Commodore Wildstar stood before the turret, with Venture and Sandor at attention, each at one side. They, like all of the assembled crew members, wore black armbands, and the Ship's Colors that Sandor held furled were wrapped in black. The Federation Flag was likewise furled.

"Are the preparations made, Living Group Leader?" snapped Derek in the oppressive silence and heat as Nova came forward and saluted.

"They are, sir," said Nova.

"Bring the prisoner forth," said Derek.

"Bring forth the prisoner!" snapped Nova.

On cue, a single Marine drummer began to pound a drum in a relentless rythym as the crew came to attention, executed a left face upon Venture's orders, and then stepped back two steps as Hartcliffe, again handcuffed, was led forward between them by two Marine guards. He wore his full uniform and peacoat, save that he was barefoot with his pants legs rolled up to his knees. His face was a remorseless mask as he was marched forward before Wildstar.

"Bryan Winston Hartcliffe," said Derek. "You stand before us for the last time as a member of our ranks, condemned to public infamy on morals charges." He then reached forward and tore the ceremonial rank pips from Bryan's peacoat, and then, he took a copy of Bryan's commission and tore it in half, throwing the halves to the deck along with his discarded Lieutenant's bars. "By order of a Court-Martial, by this act, I hereby cast you forever from the ranks of officers and gentlemen." He then reached forward and tore off Hartcliffe's pilot's wings, followed by his medals. "By this act, you are also cast forth forever from the Black Tigers and the fraternity of fighter pilots. Your name and former rank have also been wiped from your fighter plane under Hardy's supervision. Marines, open the Private's coat."

They pulled his coat open, and Wildstar grabbed him by the front of his Black Tiger uniform shirt and tore the golden arrow from the shirt, leaving what could be seen of it an unmarked, anonymous black except for the white collar, which he also ripped away. "By this act, you are cast forth forever from from the ranks of the Star Force. Upon your death, you shall have no plaque at Heroes' Hill. It is because you are not a hero and you have been excommunicated from our ranks. You are no longer one of us, disgraced one! You will note that today we wear black armbands and our colors are furled in mourning and disgrace. We do not mourn for you; we mourn for our lost honor, which you have taken from us. Said honor will not be restored for either one calendar month, or until we win a victory in battle. We tell you this in order that you may reflect upon the shame you bear. Now, away with you! I cast you forth from among us, disgraced Recruit Private! Marines, force this man to walk the March of Shame, and confine him to the brig!"

"Crew, _attention_!" snapped Sandor.

"_Drummer_!" snapped Nova.

The single drummer began to beat that remorseless, shameful rythym again as Wildstar, Sandor, and Venture snapped to and then executed about-faces, turning their backs on Hartcliffe. Nova snapped to and did the same as Bryan was pushed forward to begin his last public march ever on the _Argo's_ decks.

Bryan was marched past Hardy, Deke, and the other Tigers, who turned their backs on him like a ballet. He was marched past the Engineering Group, and Orion and Henson led their men and women in turning their backs upon him. Dash and Rosstowski led the Combat Group in turning their backs upon him, and Homer led his Group (as Nova's deputy) in turning their backs upon him. Slowly, he was led past the men and women of Medical Group, where Doctor Sane and the nurses, Dawn included, turned their backs on him. Eager led Navigation Group in its act of dismissal. Likewise, Hartcliffe was disgraced by the others from Mechanical Group, from the Marines, and last of all, past Flight Maintenance.

By design, the last Star Force member to turn her back upon him was Angie, his soon-to-be former spouse, standing beside the former test pilot Clive Hartcliffe, who was now clad in a Black Tiger uniform and activated from the reserves as an active duty EDF Lieutenant. Clive was also now the commander of his former squadron. "Angie, not you too?" murmured Bryan.

Angie stood looking out at the rail, her face an emotionless mask except for the tears running down her cheeks. By custom, she did not answer him. Except in the strictest line of duty, members of the Star Force were now bound by honor not to speak to him or to even speak his name.

When Bryan was marched to the head of the foredeck, near the Communications Unit blister and antenna, the drummer stopped. Bryan was spun about, and made to watch as, with Wildstar at their head, the Star Force executed a final about-face towards the gun turret, turning their backs upon him one last time as a unit, and then, with Derek calling cadence, they marched off the foredeck towards the appropriate hatches, leaving Hartcliffe alone with his captors.

"They're gone," he muttered.

The head of his guard detail, a tall, remorseless Corporal with blond hair, said, "Damn straight, _motherfucker! _Too bad you weren't sentenced to death by a firing squad! I would have loved to blow your heart out, shithead!"

"This little ceremony will have to suffice, _monkey meat._ It's upon Lieutenant Commander Wildstar's and Lieutenant Hartcliffe's orders, and we respect the orders of those fine ladies!" snapped the other Corporal, a huge African-American man, as the drummer, also a very big Marine, took his drum off and set it on the deck.

Then, the first Corporal backhanded Bryan and punched him right in the mouth. Before Hartcliffe could react, the second man kneed him right in the groin, and the third man kicked him in the butt, knocking him to the deck on his face.

Before Bryan could even whimper, the three Marines were upon him on the deck, beating him, kicking him, spitting on him, grabbing him up, punching him, throwing him down, and again kicking him. Bryan felt bones breaking in his face, and he saw bits of his teeth flying on the deck as the punches and kicks came, faster and faster, as he felt his ribs breaking in several places, as he felt one of his hands being reduced to a pulp as a Marine literally stamped on his fingers, and then, right before unconsciousness came, he was picked up like a sack and dragged across the deck, useless, nameless, and damned to a lifetime of disgrace and misery that he had just earned starting today.

And, it would get worse. Far worse.

**III. AN INTERLUDE**

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**Friday, April 1, 2208**

**1914 Hours Local Time**

"I'm gonna miss you guys," said Jonathan as he hugged his adoptive mother and father in the Wildstars' kitchen. Teri and Karl Forrester were waiting to drive him to their apartment in the Megalopolis, where they were going to be spending a few days.

"We're only going to be away for a week, Jon," Nova said as she walked around in a pink t-shirt with a rainbow on it, blue jeans, and East Indian style "Buffalo" sandals. "It's a nice thing that your new Junior Space Cadet Corps unit here in the Megalopolis will be going to the Moon for camp for a week on Monday during Spring Break from school. When we get back and Spring Break is over on the eleventh, you should be ready to fit right in at your new school."

"Yeah, I hope so," said Jonathan with a tone of disgust. _Moving back here was not what I wanted. Felicia and I were starting to get chummy and having fun on that beach back in San Diego when, shazam, you pull us all back to Japan with the __Argo__._ "Who's staying with my little brother and sister?"

"Us," said Sasha from nearby in her maternity-style Tiger uniform and bare feet.

"Yeah," groaned Dawn. "Nova thought that since we're about to have ours, we could _practice_ on your brother and sister."

"Carefully," said Nova. "I want you to follow all of the instructions I wrote up in those notebooks. Especially the part about making sure they receive lots of play and mental stimulation. They've just begun saying their first few words, and…"

Derek, clad in an old pullover and shorts, brought in Alex, who snuggled up to him protectively until he saw his mother. Then, his eyes brightened up with a big smile, and he squealed, "MAMA!"

There was much oohing and ahhing as Nova took him and began smooching him while he giggled. Then, Nova said, "Mama won't be here for a few days, but Auntie Sasha will help take care of you. Say hi to Auntie Sasha!"

Sasha took him, and he obliged by gurgling, "Sa-SHA!" while Deke shook his head and said, "Shoot, I'm getting jealous!"

"How can you?" Sasha said. "He's a baby!"

"He's a male," said Deke. "A male you are hugging who is other than me."

In the meantime, Ariel crawled up on her own, and she grabbed at the bottom of one of the male-patterned bell-bottom pants legs that Dawn had on with her Medical uniform and tried pulling one of Dawn's sandals off. "gagagagagaga, Mama?" she said.

"No, I'm not your Mama," sighed Dawn. "I'm a big fat useless whale lump who can barely even wear shoes anymore. I'm a big pregnant _lump_!"

"Nova, do I have to stay here with her?" chirped Sasha. "All she's been going on about is how useless she is…"

"Well, make her feel _useful_," said Nova. "Dawn, pick up my daughter. She wants you!"

Dawn bent down carefully and picked up Ariel with a sigh. "Is her diaper wet yet?"

"No, but you can easily tell," Nova said.

"How?"

"Boy! Just pat her bottom; she just has shorts on over her diaper. You feel wet, off to the nursery with her for an appointment with the baby wipes and baby powder."

"That kid looks smarter than I feel," sighed Dawn.

"Dawn, you are not stupid," Nova said as she patted her on the shoulder.

"Auntie, how do we _know_ that?" teased Sasha.

""Because I am not an Iscandarian Boobie like you," said Dawn. "Bleached blond hair, the title of Princess, you act like a Princess, Deke, were you slumming with this one?"

"DEKEE!" screamed Sasha. "Come over here and help me shut her up!"

"Uh-oh, escort duty,"sighed Deke.

"Yeah, they're at it again, aruhn't they?" said Hardy. "Girls, calm down!"

"And _fast!_" Nova said as Ariel began to scream as she grabbed her away from Dawn. "Whatsa matter?" cooed Nova as she kicked off her sandals and tiptoed to the edge of the carpet separating the kitchen area from the living room.

"Mama, funny lady," said Ariel as she pointed at Dawn.

"See, even _she_ thinks you're a freak!" giggled Sasha trumphantly.

"That's nice, coming from an _Iscandarian_ freak!" snapped Dawn as Nova and Derek scooped up the kids and got them out of there.

"YOU'RE THE FRIGGIN' _FREAK!_" yelled Sasha.

"Be quiet! _All of you_!" yelled Deke in his best command voice as Dawn and Sasha looked like they were ready to punch each other. Or something.

"Why'd you get Ariel out of there?" said Derek as Nova set her on the changing table upstairs maybe two minutes later.

"Wet," said Nova as she pulled off Ariel's socks and got rid of her little shorts and undid her diaper. "And your niece and our mutual friend Mrs. Hardy were getting kind of loud."

"Why is she always _my_ niece when she's in trouble?" groaned Derek.

"'Cause she is," mumbled Nova as she had a safety pin in her mouth. "Is _your_ niece ready to handle children yet?"

"I think _so_," snapped Derek. "What about _your_ nurse friend?"

"Why is Dawn always _my friend_ when she's in Dutch with you, Derek?" Nova snapped back.

"Same reason Sasha becomes my niece when she's in trouble," said Derek as he tried to console Alex, who looked confused. "Touche', Novelle. Do Not Pass Go, do not collect two hundred friggin' Tiger credits! You _lose_, Genius!"

"Stop calling me that, Captain Samurai!" Nova snapped. "That's _not_ what my mother named me! Read my birth certificate sometime! It reads "N" as in November, "O" as in Oscar, "V" as in Victor, _and_ "A" as in Alpha! It's all right, Ariel, Daddy is just being _stupid_. Like Felix the Cat!"

"Dada Stupid!" screeched Ariel. "Poopoo Dada syringe Tiger engine!"

"Yeah, poopoo dada all right," muttered Derek. "I'm sorry, Lady Nova."

"That's somewhat better, but you can make it up by calming down your niece," said Nova. "Otherwise, I'm callimg Momma."

"And?"

"Then Jonathan's Junior Space Cadet Corps trip gets cancelled so my mother and father can watch Sasha and Dawn watching them. And then Jonathan can go yell at Sasha and Dawn. I'm not so sure this was a good idea, Derek!"

Wildstar put his ear to the door and heard various bangs and yells of "FREAK!" "WEIRDO!" "_Fat Pregnant woman_!" and other such endearments. All in Dawn's and Sasha's voices.

"We'd better get out there," said Derek.

"Is Alexander wet?" asked Nova as she put little sandals on Ariel's bare feet to replace the wet socks.

"Nope," said Derek as he felt under his son's shorty coveralls. "Not yet, anyway…Yeah, sport," said Derek as he tickled Alex's bare chest beneath the bib of his coveralls and he giggled.

"Let's get out there to negotiate that peace treaty," Nova said as she looked at Derek. Then, she asked, "Forgiven?"

"I'm the one who needs to be forgiven for talking to you like that, soon-to-be-Doctor of Medicine," said Derek.

Nova gave him a peck on the nose and said, "Forgiven, someday-to-be-Rear Admiral. Let's get out there…"

Back near the edge of the living room, Nova stepped back into her shoes while Derek stepped back into his house slippers and the couple watched Dawn and Sasha fighting while Deke and Hardy looked very annoyed.

"I don't think you're responsible enough to watch two babies for a week, meatball-brain!" snapped Dawn as she looked at Sasha. "That's pretty bad considering you are about to have one in three or four weeks!"

"And _you_ talk about high school, high school, _high school_ all the time whenever you are around _Dekee!_" retorted Sasha. "I have training in the mystical arts, sciences, history, flight training, piloting, surfing, and drawing Rat Fink cars thanks to Dekee! What can you do? Sling around a pom-pom and go rah, rah, _rah_ like a stupid bimbo from your cheerleading team where you flirted with half the guys?"

"Sasha, not all cheerleaders are stupid," said Nova.

"Why, Auntie?"

"I'm a former cheerleader," Nova retorted. "You too. Or did the hormones make you forget?"

"Auntie, you're a special case. You're so smart, you're smarter than Dawn is when you're on the toilet farting!"

"Where did you get that set of metaphors from?" Nova snapped. "That sounds pretty disgusting!"

"Blame me," said Deke. He then looked at Dawn. "Dawn, don't you think this is stupid?"

"Sort of, but your wife is acting rather like high school herself! Like Ms. Popular!"

"I am not Ms. Popular!" said Sasha. "And I didn't go to High School!"

"Yeah, I know," said Dawn. "You were raised on Iscandar in a year by Fuzzluvs and Shaolin Monks like in the _Jungle Book_!"

"Fuzzluvs? Shaolin Monks?" mumbled Nova. "Dawn, there are no Monks on Iscandar. Plenty of stoned Fuzzluvs eating the Jungle Hemp."

"No, there are no Monks on Iscandar," said Derek.

"Sasha, don't you think you are acting too…?" said Deke.

"_Neither of us are acting blonde_!" yelled Sasha and Dawn in chorus while Nova handed Ariel to Derek, kissed him, and then walked over to the piano-synthesizer and let her head plop forward onto the keys creating a loud discord. Then, in a fashion that made it clear only to Derek how disgusted she was getting with this, she began playing her late Aunt Yvona's favorite song, Beethoven's _Fur Eloise, _albeit in a bizarre techno fashion that was soon peppered with a heavy artificially-generated beat. Derek knew she only played that song when her internal boiler was approaching its boiling point. Alex and Ariel would later learn that "That is the song Mommy plays when she gets Mad."

To this slightly strange accompianment, Sasha said to Deke, "My Aunt is making a Spectacle of herself."

"I think it's so no one knows what a Spectacle you are," said Dawn. "Baby, _baby_, stick your head in _gravy_! Wrap it up in Bubble Gum and send it to the Navy!"

"STOP CALLING ME A BABY!" yelled Sasha.

"AND STOP CALLING ME A CHEERLEADER!" yelled back Dawn. Then, they looked at each other, began to laugh, and fell into each other's arms crying and apologizing.

"It never rains in Southern California," said Deke.

"Yeah, _it pours_," said Hardy right back.

**TO BE CONTINUED….**


	5. Chapter 5

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

**PART FIVE: TESTING **

**I. A LAST MORNING**

**Earth**

**The Wildstar Residence**

**Saturday, April 2, 2208**

**0630 Hours Local Time**

It was going to be a very hot day on Great Island. An unusually hot day.

With the temperature close to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, Nova was splashing in the shallow end of their swimming pool with little Alex, who giggled as his mother played with him in the water.

Nova wore a sky-blue bikini, while little Alex wore nothing but inflatable yellow water wings on his arms as his mother bounced him up out of the water and then dangled him over the water.

"You're getting big," she said as she tickled his tummy and his legs dangled over the water.

"Big," Alex gurgled right back as his toes skimmed the surface of the water.

"That's right…big!" Nova said. She touched his stomach and said, "Tummy. That's your tummy. This is your tushie," she said, patting his wet, bare bottom.

His father walked up, wearing only a pair of grey slacks, scratching at his waistband in the morning heat, and watched as Nova tickled their son. "Thigh….knee…." she said. Running her hand over his tummy, she made him giggle when she said "Belly button!" He smiled as Nova ran down his leg and went. "Foot! Toes!" as she tickled his feet and made him giggle his head off as she swam over to the access ladder with the almost seven-month old baby boy in her arms. Nova went up the ladder while Derek said, "Ariel's still asleep."

"Who's watching her?" Nova said as she pushed some of her wet locks out of her eyes while Derek took his son from her.

"Sasha was, but I put her in the playpen in the poolhouse so she could have breakfast with Deke. Dawn's still out like a light in Hardy's room."

"I heard them going at it last night," Nova said with a cracked grin. "Not a bad thing, but…they were noisy…"

"You too?" Derek said. Nova nodded as Derek took the water wings off of Alex's arms.

"Do you think they're ready to watch our kids?" said Derek as he also checked Alex's crotch and bottom for diaper rash. "You sure keep him clean," Derek said with admiration.

"Well, _you_ help a lot," Nova replied. She took him back and he began to grab for one of his mother's breasts as he whimpered. "Awww…thirsty?" Nova said as Derek cuddled up to her and undid the bow that held on her bikini top. Nova smiled as her top slid off while she offered Alex a breast, which he gladly accepted as Nova rubbed his back and bottom. Derek, still hugging his young wife, looked around, and then began to rub her bottom and lower back. Then, with a sly grin, Derek pulled her bikini bottoms down.

"_Derek_!" Nova said, giving her husband a playful slap as he laughed; but the damage was done as her bottoms slipped down around her polished toenails on the grass. "Now why did you do that, Tinwit?"

"His bottom is cute, but yours is cuter," Derek said as he kissed Nova and picked up her wet swimwear. Then, with a squeal, Derek picked up Nova and his son and carried all of them into the poolhouse.

A while later, after all three of them (Derek, Nova and Alex) took a shower, Nova dried off Alex and diapered him and laid him in the playpen in the poolhouse with his sleeping sister as Derek followed her around, tickling her, poking at her, and making her giggle. In the warm privacy of the poolhouse, she made no effort to get dressed, noticing the time was about 0718.

Finally, she and Derek gave up all pretense that they were playing, and she ended up in his lap on a chaise lounge in the warm poolhouse, smiling and gasping in another sort of play as he began to make tender love to her, playing with one of her breasts and her womanhood while she rubbed her bottom against his own delicate parts.

"I could do this all day," Nova whispered passionately. "I wish we had no mission…no house guests…just you, me, Ariel and Alexander. It's too hot to put on my uniform today…so tight…spandex makes me itch when it's this hot…and forget those boots…until we get to the ship, I am either wearing thongs or going barefoot."

"I agree with you," Derek said as he kissed the nape of Nova's neck.

"You're driving me…out of my mind," Nova whispered.

"That's the idea," Derek replied.

"You're horrible," Nova gasped.

Derek replied by just kissing the nape of her neck again and again. Nova wriggled her toes with pleasure and they shared kisses and nuzzles and stolen caresses until the young Commodore was right on top of his wife. Then, as he continued to kiss her, a period of intense lovemaking followed as he just took her, and she shut her eyes and enjoyed what was happening, and she enjoyed his gasps and cries of pleasure, as well.

They went on and on and on. As they made love, they discussed their past, their present, and their future, including Dawn and Sasha and their children and their upcoming mission. While in the throes of increasing passion, therefore, they came to a decision, and then they went on…waiting until they saw fireworks together….

…and then, they enjoyed themselves again.

A second explosion of pleasure came when…

There was a high-pitched cry.

Nova and Derek stopped, rolled off each other, and Nova said, "_Ariel!_" She ran over to the playpen and picked up the screaming diaper-clad baby girl as she cooed at her and comforted her. Derek grinned as the little girl went right for a breast and latched on.

"How convenient that I happen to be in the nude right now," Nova said as she sat back down on the chaise lounge while Derek grabbed a kimono and made himself decent.

A minute later, someone banged at the door of the poolhouse.

"Now, who is it?" yelled Derek. He opened the door and found Dawn standing there, crying her eyes out, wearing one of Nova's old maternity t-shirts and underpants.

"What's going on?" Derek asked.

"He _hates_ me!" yelled Dawn as Nova crossed her legs Indian-style…Dawn had seen everything, of course, but if Jeff was on her tail, Nova didn't exactly want to have _everything_ on open display.

"Who hates you?" Derek said. "We were just washing down after a swim…give us a few minutes of privacy, and…"

"Jeff _hates_ me!" screamed Dawn. "I'm fat! I'm ugly! These babies in me kick and hurt my innards all the time! I want to be _dead_!" She turned to Nova and asked, "What are _you_ doing?"

"Feeding my daughter," Nova said. "And pipe down a little…Ariel does _not_ like loud noises! _Do _you, boo-boo?"

Ariel flipped her head around, looked at Dawn and said, "Stinky lady. Tinky, tinky, _tinky_ lady! Eeeeeeeooooou!"

"Bad Ariel!" Nova said as she burped her and then let her go back to her breast.

"You look ugly, letting her suck on that," Dawn sniffed.

"Excuse me?" Nova snapped. "Derek, do I look _ugly_ to you nursing our baby?"

"_Hell_ no," he said with a lecherous wink.

"I thought that," Nova said with a smile and a blush. "Dawn, you see the way he looks at me? Well, Jeff will look at _you_ the same way when you have your twins. You're very pretty."

"Yeah, he'll look at me like a lecher?" groaned Dawn.

"No, as a very attractive young woman who happens to be the mother of his kids," Derek said. "The same way I look at Nova. Now, Nova and I were discussing something…before you interrupted us, that is."

"What?" sniffed Dawn.

"Dawn, you can see that both Ariel and Alex still need my breasts as well as baby food at this age," Nova said, aware of where this was going, and thinking, _I don't like it, but it's almost too late to change plans now….._ "It's a tough time for them, as they don't know what they want yet!"

"So?"

"You can still watch them, but you are coming with us on the _Argo_…to help us watch them as they come with us on the _Argo _and stay with us or in Sickbay," Derek said. "The cruise is just one week, and we'll be home soon. Do you have uniforms with you?"

"No.." said Dawn.

"I'll get you fitted with some when we get aboard ship," Nova said. "You have nice legs. You'll look very cute in a skirt. How are your ankles?"

"Hurt," mumbled Dawn. "Can barely wear any shoes. I'm _disgusting_!"

"I'll get you fitted with a nice pair of new sandals, then," Nova said reassuringly. "They'll be comfortable, and Jeff will love them."

Someone knocked at the door, and Derek said, "Come in!" as Nova drew Ariel closer to herself while turning her back to the door and tucking her bare feet under her equally bare bottom. It was Jeff. "Dawn! What'ja doin' in here?"

"HIDING! BECAUSE YOU SAID I WAS FAT!" roared Dawn.

"Ah just said you were getting' bigguh," Hardy said. "Which is a fact of Nature right now. I couldn't say I loved it because you just belted me and ran off."

"You should be _belted_ for getting me like this," said Dawn. "And soon, I'll be doing that with these miscreants in my tummy. One's a boy, the other's a girl…"

Hardy looked at Nova and then turned away saying, "Ooops..sorry to bothu you, Missus Nova. Sorry to catch you like that…" He was blushing as he turned away from Nova.

"It happens," Nova said, looking over her shoulder to address Hardy. "When she ran in here, I decided there was going to be a convention in here; as you'll discover soon with Dawn, sometimes your bare skin is the best thing to wear when you nurse," Nova said. "Dawn, I will have to give you some pointers on how to hold your baby when you nurse, after Jeff slips out of here, of course."

"I don't need baby care lessons now! Can't you _cover up_?" yelled Dawn.

Nova rolled her eyes and said, "Derek, please get me the other yutaka….Jeff, turn your head for a minute…"

Hardy, being a gentleman, nodded, while thinking, _Dawn, what's yoah problem? You're going to be feeding our young'uns soon, probably just as naked as that at times in the summer, and you'll look just as cute as her in your birthday suit doing that once the pregnancy weight comes off_. Derek kissed Nova and brought a short summer bath kimono. Nova quickly and gracefully clothed her nakedness, keeping the garment partly open because Ariel was still hungry. "Okay, Dawn. We can resume this some other time when you catch me in the bath with them or something. Now, since you're due at the end of the month…"

"Don't _remind_ me!" Dawn yelled.

"Dawn, it's a fact of life," said Jefferson. "You'uh getting' bigger every day, shall we say. No dishonor in that; you're a pregnant young woman. Didn't I tell yuh you have a certain glow about you right now?"

"Yeah, like a 25-watt light bulb!" screamed Dawn. "And Sasha's not helping! Damn floozie!"

"I thought we agreed long ago you would stop calling her that," Nova said. "What's she saying?"

"I'm cute but I need to grow up! _Grow up_? I never wanted to _be_ pregnant to begin with!"

"Now, Dawn," said Hardy.

"Don't '_now Dawn_' me!" screamed Dawn. "And don't touch me, either!" she yelled. Then, a moment later, as he tried to caress her cheek to comfort her, she glared at him and slapped him across the face. Then, she ran off, crying her eyes out.

Hardy rolled up his visible eye and said, "Ah'm sorry. So sorry!"

"Not _your_ fault!" Derek said as he patted and caressed a suddenly screaming Alex. "Go follow her and calm her down and then help her get into some clothes. That's an order!"

"_Yes_suh," Hardy said with a salute.

**II. ARRIVAL**

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**Saturday, April 2, 2208**

**0930 Hours Local Time**

"Nice to be back," said Kitano as he and Domon shook hands on the _Argo's_ bridge.

"She looks like she's never suffered any damage at all," said Homer as he looked around the First Bridge.

Paul Rosstowski, who had returned to the First Star Force as the Artillery Officer, sat at his post beside Homer and he said, "They've increased the range of the main guns to twelve megameters. I didn't think that was possible. How's Wendy?"

"She's OK," said Homer. "She chose to stay in San Diego with a girlfriend of hers. She's six months along now with her kids, and she knew she'd never be able to survive space warps. Heck, driving in a car is making her nauseated."

The doors whizzed open, and a slightly harried-looking Nova appeared on the bridge, trim in her gold uniform. Eager turned to her and said, "Hey, you're lookin' good! What's wrong?"

"Ask me later after I just haven't broken up an argument between Dawn and Sasha. Again," Nova sighed as she slid into her chair. "Thank heavens Alex and Ariel are sleeping."

From her post at Engineering, Diane Henson raised her eyebrows and said, "They're with us?"

Nova nodded. "They'll be in Sickbay most of the time. We decided our _babysitters_ needed babysitters. So, we got them to bring the kids with us. This is just a week's cruise. And with the armistice, there are no enemies around that we know of."

From Analysis, IQ-9 said, "And what about the enemies we _don't_ know of?"

"If we knew of them, well, then they would not be enemies we didn't know about," Nova said. "That is a tautology, IQ."

"Many things are tautologies, but I am _not _one," said IQ-9. "I have been studying and upgrading my sensors. I am _more_ of a genius robot than _ever_!"

"Yeah, right, Tinwit," chuckled Sandor from his post. Some lights flashed at his post on a screen, and he said, "Engineering, we're one hour away from our first all-up power test. Launch should be on time at 1100."

Some time passed. The engines had been started and then run back down. Other reports came, and other stations were readied. Finally, it was 1045 Hours.

"It's almost time," Sandor said as he checked a readout. "Right on schedule."

Diane nodded, and then Sandor heard a clunk up in the overhead. A moment later, he was on his feet, snapping, "_Captain on the bridge_!" as he saluted.

The others snapped to as Commodore Wildstar descended from the Captain's Quarters on his lift, resplendent in his black peacoat and cap in the glare from the morning light that came through the bridge windows. He returned his officers' salutes, and then snapped, "Bridge crew, _report! _By the numbers!"

"Yessir," said Sandor. "As First Officer, I am pleased to report that launch preparations are ninety-seven percent complete. All main systems are ready for power-up, and the ship is at ninety-eight percent known readiness. The computer systems have just passed their boot tests, and they are ready to go. Diagnostic systems are up. The new wiring redundancy trunk measures are up and running perfectly. Captain, the _Argo_ has not been in this sort of good condition since the war started."

"Check and recheck and get us at one hundred percent," said Derek. "Second Officer!"

Nova cleared her throat and came to attention. "The cosmo-radar and sensors are up and running, sir. Main computer core is ready for programming for warp test. Course?"

"Program a course for the Jupiter orbit. The ship needs a more extensive test than usual. If I read the reports correctly, warping us to the Jupiter Area from the Moon Orbit should be a simple matter. And if anyone's watching, let's keep them guessing a bit about what the _Argo_ can do now."

"Yessir," Nova said.

"Engineering!" barked Derek.

Henson turned her head and said, "Sir!"

"Report on engine status."

"Yessir. Both port and starboard boosters are on line and balancing well. Wave motion engine and supercharger are ready to have starting procedure initiated."

"Artillery," said Wildstar.

Rosstowski stood up and saluted as he said, "Captain, all three main turrets are manned and ready for firing in trials today. Auxilary turrets ready."

"Domon, combat systems status?"

"Systems all ready and nominal, sir," said Domon.

"Navigation?"

Kitano said, "Sir, Astro-compass up and running, ready for other commands."

"Tactical radar?"

Eager said, "Scannin' and ready, sir!"

"Analysis?"

"Nominal and ready."

"Communications?" said Wildstar.

"Sir, the Black Tigers are on standby and ready to launch, Hardy reports. Headquarters has given us launch clearance. Sir?"

"Mrs. Wildstar, are all hands on board?" said Derek.

Nova checked several Living Group readouts. "All section chiefs report all hands are present and on board, except for the Black Tigers, sir."

Sandor turned his head. "Captain, all systems check out at one hundred percent."

"Time?" said Derek.

"1047," replied Sandor.

"Haul in the gangway, ready for takeoff!" snapped Derek.

"Gangway in," said Sandor as Henson worked at her post, bringing the engines up on line. Commodore Wildstar sat back and listened to his crew going through the checkout list as the reassuring thrum of the auxilary engines built up in the bowels of the ship under the sound of the takeoff warning klaxon. Finally, Wildstar said, "Mister Kitano, raise the anchors. Ahead, slow speed!"

"Weighing anchor," said Kitano as the _Argo's_ huge anchors came up at 1051, nine minutes ahead of time. "Ahead, slow speed."

The auxilary engines ignited underwater as the _Argo_ crept away from the dock at the edge of the Megalopolis, sailing out confidently into Tokyo Bay as every civilian and military vessel in the harbor stopped and began blowing their whistles. The mighty space battleship gained speed, and she was soon on the open sea, majestically sailing along on the surface, braving the waves as if they were nothing.

"Energy buildup in wave motion engine commencing," said Henson. "Energy level, eighty percent."

"Minutes to full power?" said Kitano.

"Two minutes, estimated," said Henson.

"Radar reports negative," Nova said. "Captain, preparing calculations for warp to Jupiter Area. Calculations will be finalized when we clear the Moon Orbit."

"Wave motion energy level, ninety percent," said Henson. "Engine room crew, ready for flywheel and energy point contact."

Orion yelled at some men and women in the Engine Room. "Ready for contact at your command, Bridge."

"Approaching takeoff point; speed sixty statute knots and increasing," said Kitano.

"Energy level, ninety-five percent!" said Henson. "Start the flywheel!"

The flywheels began to rotate in the engine room as the energy built up. Thirty seconds later, Henson said over the PA, "Energy Level, one hundred percent!"

"Energy point contact!" said Orion.

The engine ignited. Then, Wildstar ordered, "_Argo_, ascend!"

"_Argo_, beginning ascent!" said Kitano.

The _Argo _blasted up out of the ocean with a spectacular roar and spray of water. Kitano said, "Helm answering well! Ascending angle, thirty degrees; main wings, open!"

The ship's wings opened as she roared up into the skies, ascending quickly towards the morning cloud cover.

It didn't take long until the sky around the ship began to darken as she gained altitude.

Two minutes passed; three minutes passed. Four minutes later, the _Argo's_ wings closed as she settled into orbit to await the imminent arrival of Hardy, Deke Wakefield, and the rest of the Black Tigers.

The refitted ship was finally back in space again.

So far, the trials were going smoothly. As Commodore Wildstar observed the ship's routine around him, he smiled to himself, hoping that they would be able to reach the Minerva Belt by the end of the afternoon to drop off at the prison asteroid their unwanted "guest", the disgraced Bryan Hartcliffe, who was still locked in the brig.

_That'll be a great test of our warp systems,_ Derek thought. _I just hope this warping won't affect our kids too badly…why didn't Nova and I arrange to have them go off with her parents? Poor Nova…she's going to have a rough time…being an officer and a mother at the same time. Poor me…I'm going to have a rough time being a father and an officer at the same time. We'll check them around lunch…._

Wildstar put those thoughts out of his mind as the _Argo_ cruised on….

**TO BE CONTINUED….**


	6. Chapter 6

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

_Notes: This tale contains some crossover elements from an (incomplete) crossover story of mine later in this timeline called __Plausible Deniability__ that includes retconned elements from an altered conception of the __Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman__ universe. __Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman__ is © 2008 by Sandy Frank Productions/Tatsunoko Studios This is put here so the evil lawyers won't send 7-Zark-7 after me. _

**PART SIX: SPACE TRIALS AND A PULP NOIR TALE (1) **

**I. WARP!**

**The Moon Orbit**

**Saturday, April 2, 2208**

**1230 Hours Local Time**

At her post, Nova shook her head slightly as she entered figures and data for the _Argo's_ scheduled warp test to the Jupiter region.

_Six hours ago, I was up and in my pool with little Alex, _she thought. _Now, six hours later, back on the ship, to see what she'll do. The power ratings seem higher, _she thought as she typed in more parameters_. After the warp, around lunch, we can check on the kids._

"Captain," said Homer. "Commander Hardy reports the last of the planes are both on board and secured."

"Have the Tigers meet us in the Briefing Room at 1430," said Derek. "They're going to have some flying to do later on."

"Yessir," said Homer.

At his post, Derek jumped a little as an instant message came in on his screen…from Sickbay.

It was Sasha, being her turn with the kids until she would be detailed to help check out the _Diamond Girl_ and some of the other Tigers.

In her message, she typed:

_**Hi, Uncle, sir.**_

_**Situation normal, all fouled up.**_

_**Ariel is up, and is very cranky. I diagnosed the problem; it's her diaper. Ask her mom: is her poop usually green? Over.**_

Derek sighed and forwarded the message to Nova, with a note to her,

_**Nova (Yes, I mean you…)**_

_**Now hear this; confused Princess. Was Ariel's poop green at 0500? Explanation? Reassure the Princess.**_

_**Don't take too much time, Peppermint. You are supposed to be preparing to warp us out of here.**_

_**-Skipper.**_

Nova smiled a little, rolled up her eyes, and put in PI to the 12th place in one window, and in another window, she typed an IM that read;

_**Skipper—**_

_**Ariel had split peas from a bowl this morning at 0400 before I nursed her. Forgetting already, Dad? She woke **__**you **__**up.**_

_**Sasha:**_

_**Babies' poop is usually green when they eat split pea junk. **_

_**Both of you:**_

_**I am preparing this space warp…or trying to. Do you want me to send us to the Andromeda Galaxy? And stop calling me Peppermint.**_

_**-Nova.**_

Nova then finished and said, "Captain, calculations completed for the space warp. Transmitting data to Navigation. The status gauges read split pea green, sir."

"Split pea green?" said Eager. "What the hell ya mean by that?"

"Classical reference for the Captain, Lieutenant," said Nova frostily as she looked back at Derek's post and winked. Derek smiled and typed,

_**Nice job: Peppermint.**_

Nova smiled and typed back:

_**Up yours, Derek!**_

"Captain, ready to make preparations for space warp," said Kitano.

"Proceed with warp preparations," Derek said. He nodded at Nova, who then said over the PA, "All hands, secure all stations for warp!"

Down below in Sickbay, Sasha was closing up Ariel's diaper and putting a clean shirt on her when the announcement came to prepare for warp.

Nearby, Dawn was futzing around with Alex's diaper. He was screeching because she kept on sticking him with a safety pin.

"What do I do with this kid! Sasha, what the hell do I do with this screaming brat of a kid?"

"Let me," said Sasha. She sighed, reached out with her powers, and crooned, ""Do I look like your Mommy? IQ-9 thinks I look like your Mommy. That's why he lifted my skirt before. Bad robot. Good baby," cooed Sasha. "Good little cousin Alexander! Where's your thingie? Oopsie! Diaper's over it."

"Sasha mama?" said Alex as he bit at his own toes.

"Why does he do that?" said Dawn. "Biting at his own feet is so _gross_!"

"He's a baby, that's why," said Sasha. Alex repeated, "Sasha-mama?"

"That's right, I'm your Sasha-mama! Mama-mama is up on the bridge."

"Wan' mommy. _Hungy_!" gurgled Alex as he tried to grab one of Sasha's boobs, clad in his diaper and nothing else.

"No, I don't give that much yet," said Sasha with a giggle as she tickled his stomach, deciding to keep him out of his clothes for a bit. "You need mama-mama!"

Doctor Sane came in with his bottle. "Do you girls need a drink?"

"Nooooooo," they said together, both being about eight months pregnant.

"But this one _is_ Spring Water."

"We're not sure, sir," said Dawn, who looked better clad in her nurse's tunic and white clogs.

"We don't trust you," said Sasha, who looked as military as possible in her Black Tiger top and skirt as she held Alex.

The door to Sickbay whirred open and Deke Wakefield came in and gave Sasha a smooch. "Sasha, after we warp, my plane needs to have its computer checked out. Nav was off a little when I flew in."

"Where are you going to sit to warp, Dekee?" said Sasha.

"Dekee," muttered Dawn. "Yeah, make me barf, you two. And where's Jefferson?" she snapped. "Where's _my_ smooch from your commander, sir?"

"Dawn, he's busy getting fifty pilots checked out," said Deke as he ran his hands through his hair. "You damn well know that."

"It's _tough_ caring for kids," she whined.

"We would have left you home if both you and Sasha could have behaved," said Deke. "Consider it your punishment; a weeks' worth of extra duty. For God's sakes, we're warping in thirty seconds! Get the damn junior cadets strapped down!"

Ariel, now dressed, was placed in her little plastic crib by Sasha, who gently strapped her in with the little car-seat like harness for the warp. Dawn fumbled with Alex's, and Deke had to help her (to Sasha's annoyance as the young officer found a seat and strapped herself in). Finally, Deke strapped down between Sasha and Dawn, and he said, "Looks like I'm stuck in the middle."

"Dekee," whispered Sasha.

"Quit it," said Dawn.

Sasha stuck out her tongue at her.

On the main bridge, a short time later, Kitano counted down to warp. "Ready for warp. Warp preparations! Five…four…three…two..one…zero…WARP!"

He pulled back the lever. The _Argo_ kicked off, blasting into the Fourth Dimension in a spectacular display of colors and lights.

In Sickbay, Sasha shut her eyes while little Ariel gurgled, fascinated at the feeling that made her feel as if she was flying out of her crib.

Sasha hadn't quite reckoned upon a simple fact; Alex and Ariel were already sort of familiar with this phenomenon, having experienced quite a few warps inside their mother's womb when Nova had been pregnant with them. This time, Ariel really giggled at the lights and stars, because there was nothing soft and warm (mommy) to hold her in place with bro-bro.

Ariel tried to grab a galaxy as it streaked past, and began to screech for a second when she couldn't catch it. She giggled when a star lit up and cooed at the pretty colors.

Nearby, Alex was babbling as he talked to the stars. "gagaggagaga aba aba aba starries get you ga ga boo boo toesies tickle…"

He tried to catch a star with his toes but giggled as it flew past. The light show did a good job at distracting the babies from their funny feelings in their tummies as the _Argo_ roared on through the Fourth Dimension.

Finally, there was the usual "slam" and then the usual humming noise came as the _Argo_ reappeared in the Jupiter Region,

The _Argo_ was far at the edge of the region, fay beyond the orbit of any of the 72 known moons of Jupiter, many of which were very small, and many of which had just been discovered around the beginning of the 21st century, between 1999 to 2003. The most recently discovered satellite, S/2207 J 5, had just been mapped and discovered by the _North Carolina_ in late 2207.

"Warp completed," said Kitano.

"Nearest object, Sierra 2207 Juliet Five, spotted at two hundred megameters' range," said Nova from her post.

"I suggest we stop around here," said Sandor.

"Good idea. We can have the Tigers "attack" the laser mapping stations that the _North Carolina_ placed here last December. Any idea what the Science Committee is going to name this new mini-moon yet?" Derek asked.

"It's still being considered," said Sandor.

Derek nodded and said, "Sandor, you have the conn until 1500, barring incident. Mrs. Wildstar, get Ensign Hall up here to man your post; she'll be delighted to take it. Then, meet me in the mess hall."

"Yessir," said Nova.

**II. SPACE TRIALS UNDER POWER**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**The Jupiter Region**

**Saturday, April 2, 2208**

**1340 Hours Local Time**

A while later, in the Messhall, Commodore Wildstar sat with Diane Henson, who was asking, "Well, how has fatherhood changed your life, sir?"

"It's certainly made things…more unpredictable," Derek said. "Nova and I have quite an age group to deal with at home, what with a 15-year old and two crawly, playful smart little seven-month olds…we love all of them, of course. I know the Government really propagandizes things to encourage people to become parents, these days, but…"

"You once told me, when we were dating, that you didn't want to have kids until we had peace. Not to impugn your judgment, nor Nova's…hell, she's a _wonderfully _sweet kid, I'd think you would have waited until the war was over."

"Well," said Derek as he ate his fried pastrami sandwich, "we thought we had a period of peace there, so we were trying like crazy. Then, the war started up, and when we _weren't_ trying, Nova found herself very pregnant. You know what she was going through…"

"I never told you, Derek, but some of the _women_ on this ship were putting her through hell then, as well as some of the men. She just lost it at one point and talked to me about wanting to go home. I got her to buck up and stay with the program, and, well, she was here until the last day of the war, when I understand she gave you a fine young son and daughter in the shuttle on the way home."

"Yeah, she did," said Derek, blushing at the memories. "I hope the same thing doesn't happen with my niece."

"Sasha won't; she's a trouper," said Diane. "I know her. She's going to be able to hold out for six days, I think. That Dawn is the one I worry about. That is, if she doesn't throw herself out the friggin' airlock. I…"

Diane stopped when a set of hands went over Derek's eyes while he heard some people saying, "awwww…"

"Hey, who's that?" he yelled. "This is assault upon the person of the Captain!"

"Is _this_ assault?" said a dulcet, familiar alto voice as a set of soft lips kissed Derek's neck.

Wildstar turned around, beholding Nova standing there in an off-the shoulder white peasant blouse that buttoned down, short corduroy skirt, and white rubber shower flip-flops.

"What happened to your uniform?" Derek said. "And what kept you?"

"Work," Nova sighed. "Sorry. I had one unpleasant duty and one pleasant one, both of which messed my uniform up, so I had to change in a hurry. They're still breaking out the nurses' uniforms, so everything on my back right now came courtesy of Sasha."

"What was the unpleasant duty?" sighed Diane.

"Hi, Diane. The unpleasant duty was having to do a physical on a certain Private they dredged up from the brig."

"Hartcliffe?" hissed Derek.

Nova nodded. "While I was helping Doctor Sane look at what the Marines left of his teeth, he thought it would be funny to throw up on me. I was _not_ amused! In fact, I think I cost him two more teeth."

"That's my girl, that's my _girl_," said Diane as she grabbed Nova by the shoulders and laughed with her. "Then?"

"Well, I think he won't be able to have kids, either," Nova said conspiratorially. "Not after IQ-9 and I got finished with him. The Tinwit went nuts when he threw up on me! After he and I punched that scum in the crotch after he tried to assault me, I had to pull IQ off of him. Not that I was very nice to him, either, when I got the handcuffs back on him. And they're staying on him, Derek. I don't care if he gets presented to the authorities on that asteroid in his skivvies!"

"Handcuffs…back on him?" said Derek.

"The little snake got one hand out and tried to punch me," Nova said. "He's back in the cooler now. Lucky for _him_."

"Okay, that's the unpleasant duty. The pleasant duty?"

"Alex got hungry. I tried giving him some bacon and beans, and he ate some of them and decorated me with the others. So, I slipped off to that side room and gave him some milk…when he burped, more came up on my uniform. When Sasha found me, everything I had on was off while I finished with him and Ariel. Just too messy. She got me a spare outfit of hers that I got into by tightening everything up. So, here I am," Nova said. "If you two will excuse me, I think I'll get some of that pastrami, Derek. I'm ravenous."

Derek kissed his wife and said, "Go right ahead. I'll save this seat for you."

"Thanks."

"HEY!" yelled Bryan Hartcliffe as he sat in his cell in the Brig after his handcuffs had been removed. "GET ME SOME FRIGGIN' FOOD! NOW! ME FRIGGIN TEETH HURT! AND PUT THAT IDIOT WOMAN IN 'ERE WITH ME!"

"You don't deserve any solid food," said the Space Marine guarding his cell. "They had to extract some of your teeth, wiseass!"

"This is brutaility t' prisoners, man! Brutal!" Bryan looked at a Gideon Bible that was left in his cell. He opened the Bible and sneered as his eyes fell on a page which had the heading "HOW TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOUR"

"I don't need this crap!" yelled Hartcliffe. "Here's what I think of your reading, Sarge!"

He threw the Bible against the wall. The Marine Segreant slapped him and said, "Ya weirdo! There's some stuff even _I _respect! You should have your ass kicked in and hard!"

Hartcliffe snarled with a weird look in his eyes as he took the Bible and tore its cover off. "Lookit this cross on the front of it, mate! This cross, which I just turned upside down. I just decided I wanta worship the Other Dude today. The Man Downstairs!"

"You _shit_!" yelled the Marine as he threw open the cell door and waded in with a nightstick. He bashed Hartcliffe in the head three times and kicked him against the bulkhead. Then, he stalked out and slammed the cell door shut. "Forget that soup they were going to bring you! As long as I'm on duty, you'll STARVE, Private!"

Bryan Hartcliffe spat blood against the bulkhead of his cell and then began to crawl on his hands and knees to the bed.

Then, he lay there moaning, and then he just soiled himself in his skivvies like an animal.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, _shite_!" he yelled.

_When we get you to that asteroid, you're going to learn a few things_, thought the Marine Sergeant as he sat back in his chair reading a magazine.

Nova had been a little confused when Homer had told her that a call was coming in for her from home. _I hope Jonathan's all right_, she thought as she went into the communications booth. _I really do hope Mother is not calling to complain about Jonathan or that he's not sick or something…._

So, Nova took the call…to find a young woman with very dark, slightly purplish hair and a dark red dress waiting for her on the other side of the line!

"_Katrina_?" Nova said.

"Interesting uniform, Nova…cute," said Katrina Savela (aka Princess Invidia) as she smiled at Nova.

"Uhh,…this is not my uniform," said Nova, looking at her skirt and blouse. "Sorry..I can only talk for a few minutes. I put this on because two babies made a mess on me."

"Both Alex and Ariel?"

"No, one of the babies is named Bryan Hartcliffe. The criminal we had on trial. Katrina, how did you find me here on the _Argo_?"

"My contacts," said Katrina. "Foxy and I wanted to see how you were."

"Fine…we're just out here for a few days."

"Michelle was trying to reach Jonathan but no one answers there. Where is your son?"

"Uh…he's with my parents," said Nova. Nova gave the portable vidphone number of her mother and said, "He's away camping. You can reach him there. He'll probably love to hear from you, Foxy and Michelle."

"Thanks," said Katrina. As Invidia, she thought of some rumors she'd heard about the House Dezaria being on the move again, and she said, "Is there any trouble out there?"

Nova laughed, "Oh…no…not at all!" _I couldn't tell you if there was, of course_, Nova added to herself. "It's a test and training cruise and we'll be back soon."

"I hope you are well, Nova. Love to the little ones and Derek."

Nova nodded and blew a kiss at Katrina. Katrina did likewise, and the screen went blank.

Back on Earth, in Foxworth Manor, Foxy came into the room just as Invidia was getting done. "Who were you calling?"

"Nova."

"How is she?"

"They're out in space. I got the number of where Jonathan is from Nova so Michelle can call him up. As soon as she gets back from that event with that boy she went out for ice cream sodas with. Why is she noticing boys?"

"It's normal. Would you prefer she is noticing _girls_?"

"_No,_" said Katrina as she blushed fiercely.

"**So**, are you jealous that Michelle is getting older?"

"No…maybe…I don't know. We were through so much together a few months ago," Katrina was quiet for a moment before Changing back to Invidia. "I'd like to have the ability to lead and guide this world and do wonderful things with it; but I've had quite enough of the blood and pain of war. They won't give up this world easily. And who can blame them for fighting hard?"

"We fought for and fight on for that which we want to preserve," said Foxy as he looked hard at Invidia. "We've grown a lot in the past few months; the past few weeks."

"I'd like to have a peaceful merger of this world into our Greater Empire," said Invidia. "Or a peaceful permanent agreement, and…"

Suddenly, Invidia's personal comm device rang. She took the phone out of a pocket of the dress she wore and said, "Yes?"

"Princess," said the voice at the other end; the voice of a deep undercover Cometine agent she knew named Helgrem. "I can't talk for long. This is heavily encrypted."

"Where are you?" Invidia demanded.

"Deep space. The region of the Crab Nebula, 6500 lightyears away from your location. We've located a civilization here at its edge at a star they call Vikerneh. The primary occupied world of the system is heavily polluted and occupied by a humanoid race not that different from the Earthlings, but with far different traditions. They seem to be rather aggressive; my ship was attacked once by one of their mecha, which I shot down. The place bears investigation. Oddly enough, the Pellians have an exploration ship in the region. I've contacted the ship, but it is rather cagey about what it is up to. Orders?"

"Continue recon there, and keep quiet. Out," said Invidia as she put away her comm device and then looked out the window. "Michelle's coming back; with a friend." She Changed back into Katrina and whispered, "She is bringing the boy back. Be sure we keep this conversation quiet."

Foxy smiled and nodded.

Paul Rosstowski stood alone on the observation deck, looking out to the stars.

He had told everyone Aliscea was back home and simply hadn't wanted to come on the mission with them. That was a half-truth. She had actually been away for about two and a half weeks, aboard the Pellian exploration ship _Talinghaver_.

Suddenly Aliscea called to Paul in his mind. "Paul, love?"

"Where are you?" he said.

"Around the edge of a Nebula. My mother and Desslok asked me to go on this mission to investigate a planet in the region. It's a dangerous place that I've heard has an interest in the Orion Arm for some reason. We have also found a small belt of stars beyond the Crab Nebula that is in about a hundred-lightyear radius of it. Some of the stars seem to have planets about them and some of those worlds seem to be occupied."

"Why is the place dangerous?" Paul asked.

"The planet appears to be the nucleus of a possible Imperial movement of some kind. We visited a planet of the region called Bela. Bela has a small defense force that has had a few skirmishes with the aggressor world. We've also seen signs the Cometines are active in the region," Aliscea said in his mind.

"Doing what?" demanded Paul.

"Exploration, they say. One of those ships contacted us. They say exploration. I say spying. Watch out. The _Argo_ may have to come to this region sometime in the next few weeks or months. Maybe. I expect to be home in a month or three weeks. Love and prayers."

"Love and prayers," said Paul as he wiped tears from his eyes. _Aliscea_, he thought. _You'd better be all right out there._

Later that afternoon, after Commodore Wildstar called in the Black Tigers, the _Argo_ made another warp, heading out towards the region of Neptune.

When she emerged from warp, Wildstar called a briefing after the _Argo_ was placed in orbit around Neptune. The briefing took place at 1730, with all of the Command Staff present.

"First," said Wildstar, "We have a schedule. After we do our trials today, we will cruise for a while in the Neptune region for a rest period." Derek pointed at the deck screen with his pointer and said, "Right now, we are _here_. We are going to be taking some high-speed measurement runs near the planet's ring system. Neptune, as you know, has thirteen moons and a fragmentary ring system. The ring of Neptune is nowhere near as dense as the ice ring of Saturn, so it is easier to negotiate in. We will be making three runs along the edge of the ring…here…here, and _here_," said Derek as he pointed at three spots on the chart. "We will be launching transponder shells from the auxilary guns that will implant themselves in the ice fragments to provide marker points for our speed runs. We need to have exact figures on the accelaration, burn latency and reaction time on the engines, and other such figures so we can calibrate the ship for combat simulations later. I do want to let you know that Captain Venture has also recently left Earth with the _Arizona_; which is also undergoing space trials like ours."

"That's good…it'll be nice to see Mark again," Nova said. "When will the rendzevous be?"

"Ah…that is the point I do not know," said Commodore Wildstar. "The reason being that when we meet the _Arizona_, it's going to be in a wargame simulation. She's going to be "attacking" us at some point. When, we do not know, since it is to be a surprise attack that will take place at some point after April the Fifth, and we'll get together for coffee and juice with Venture after we kick his butt back to Venus," said Derek. "Dash is on the ship as Combat Group Leader, so I'm sure he's got some stuff up his sleeve."

"We have some stuff up _our_ sleeves," said Domon as he nodded at Rosstowski. "Sir, when are we testing the wave motion gun?"

"We can't safely test it at full power in the solar system," said Sandor as he took the pointer from Wildstar and nodded at IQ-9. He still had a helmet and space gear on because he and IQ-9 had been working together with Nova on installing some sensors on on the open foredeck of the ship in space just a few minutes beforehand."The range and power of the weapon have been vastly increased because I found a way to improve the tachyon compression rate and release rate," he said as he pointed at a graphic of the wave engine and gun's inner workings. "I have estimates for the power of the Gun, but we won't be able to prove them for sure until after we leave the Solar System. The reason being that when we destroy something, we want to avoid navigational hazards. Nova's found us a star system nearby for us to play around with it, and now I'll give her the floor," said Sandor.

Nova took the pointer and took over. "We have found a small star system a short distance out beyond Alpha Centauri. The star is an aging red star that was named Mikanus in the middle of the last century; it was discovered by the automated Galileo XXVI Probe of 2136. You know from your history that right before that probe was lost in 2142, it sent us back some of our clearest pictures of Gamilon space warships to date, which were kept classified for many , we finally had an idea of who was destroying our probes and some of the first deep space manned missions we never heard from again. In the Mikanus System, there are ten known planets. One of the smallest is Mikanus VIII; which at 2800 kilometers diameter, is maybe a bit bigger than Ganymede," Nova said as she pulled up a graphic of the system and the rocky little planet. "Mikanus VIII has a highly eccentric retrograde orbit. Prior missions have ascertained that it has an atmosphere of methane compounds, and is lifeless," she said with an uneasy smile as she handed IQ-9 the pointer so he could call up other graphics as she spoke.

"It's isolated; our shipping never goes there, the system is uninhabited, and it's really like…the middle of nowhere," Nova said with an uneasy laugh and the hint of a smile as some of the crew chuckled while she tapped her booted foot nervously against the deck for a moment as she thought about moral variables that she didn't want to get into for the moment. Nova's smile faded as she said, " It'll be safe for…what I think we'll be doing with it when we hit it with the wave motion gun tomorrow," said Nova as she looked uneasily at Derek.

"So what are we doing?" said Deke Wakefield as he stood there with Sasha. Dawn had baby duty at the moment. "We know how the wave motion gun works, right? If I remember correctly, didn't we and some of our other allies use it to turn the _Eritz Gatlantis _into an artificial sun now in permanent orbit of Pluto?"

Wildstar nodded. "We sure did. We're also making a port call on Pluto tomorrow for a few hours on our way back into the Solar System after we drop our prisoner off for good at his prison in the Minerva Asteroid Belt; when we finish that unpleasantness and get to Pluto, you'll be damn surprised to see what we're doing with the base there now now that we have a sun orbiting the planet. When we test the gun tomorrow afternoon, I will be taking the controls myself. Domon, I would like you to take Analysis at the time we do so. I'd like a weapons officer doing the readings."

Domon nodded as IQ-9 protested, "I am perfectly suitable for the job! Why am I getting demoted?"

"IQ, I'm putting you down in the wave gun firing room for the test," said Commodore Wildstar. "We need a genius there at close range taking internal readings of the gun. That'll be your job."

"Acknowledged," said IQ-9.

Sasha raised her hand. "Captain, permission to speak?"

"Granted," he said as he looked at the pregnant young officer.

"I could tell what my Aunt was thinking…sorry for intruding on your mind, Nova, but to me, you were giving off moral doubt like a 300-Watt light bulb. The wave motion gun is already a horribly destructive weapon. I know this happened before I was born, but I understand that you were…forced to use it devastate Gamilon. In the right set of variables, the Gun can _already wipe a civilization out_. Why do we have to make it an even more morbid weapon than it already is? I know where this is going, and I don't _like_ it!" she said.

Sandor spoke up, "Sasha, you know that as our weapons have gotten stronger, our enemies have gotten stronger, too. I know you read your history in the Academy and had a good idea of what nearly happened to Earth close to six years ago this month when Ekogaru and his Fortress entered the solar system. As we can all tell you, it was only the intervention of Aliscea and her power that made the _Argo_ strong enough to destroy the Grand Technomugar Fortress. And we had a hard time winning against the _Eritz Gatlantis_. What's going to happen when and if Ekogaru comes back someday in our lifetime, or someday when we are gone and our children have taken up the torch we will someday have to pass to them as we retire? With the medical advances we have, our lifespans are lengthening slowly, and we might be able to be hale and hearty up until our sixties or eighties with proper care and diet and some of the ideas that our up and coming doctors and soon to be doctors have; if they can make them a reality in the lab. There is a good shot that, barring accident, many of the younger ones in this room might see a hundred or a hundred and ten years before they have to go the way of all flesh and die and meet their Maker. But, when that happens, Sasha, the daughter inside you will be one of those keeping watch for when Ekogaru returns someday with an even bigger Fortress. For we know he will, and you know it, too…"

Sasha nodded her head miserably. "I know that's true, Steve. We have to…accept this….but that does not mean we have to _like_ it!"

**III. AN UNEXPECTED "PARTY"**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**The Neptune Orbit**

**Sunday, April 3, 2208**

**0351 Hours Local Time**

It was one of the early-morning watches, and Sandor was now Officer of the Deck as the _Argo_ cruised out beyond Neptune's farthest satellite. At 0630, when free of Neptune's gravity, another space warp was scheduled to take place. They would be bypassing Pluto for the moment to warp out to the Mikanus System for the test firing of the wave motion gun, which was scheduled for exactly 1100 Hours this morning.

Sandor sat at the Captain's station drinking some space java while a younger officer named Cunningham manned his usual post. Kitano was in bed, so Eager was at the helm. Paul Rosstowski was manning Combat next to him, and a pair of young Ensigns were manning Artillery and Communications. Engineering was being manned by Diane Henson, while Sasha Wakefield was yawning as she sat at the Cosmo-Radar. "I hate these late watches," she said.

"You know it's part of life here," said Sandor. "If it'll make you feel better, your aunt will be Officer of the Deck this same watch in twenty-four hours from now on Monday, and you'll have a rotation coming up as Officer of the Deck in about two days."

"I forgot how tired this made me," yawned Sasha. "Okay, maybe it's worse due to my current condition."

A moment later, an IM came up at Sasha's post. It said:

_**Sasha! Damnit, I need your help! Kids! They won't stop crying! Tried changing their diapers, playing with them, feeding them some bottles Nova got together…what do I do?**_

_**Dawn! (MAD!)**_

Sasha typed back:

_**I'm on watch and can't leave the Bridge. Call Nova up in her cabin. You know her number. They've woken her and Derek up before.**_

_**PS-act like you have a brain!**_

_**SASHA**_

Sasha waited for a response, but there was none.

Nova got the rough side of Dawn's tongue as she woke up in Derek's arms in her cabin when the phone went off. "Capn's quarters…yes?" she mumbled.

"Nova, get you damn ass down here! These are your Goddamned kids and they are screaming their heads off! How dare you leave me alone with two screaming little...?"

Nova yawned and extricated herself gently from her husband's arms. "Dawn, _never _call my children Goddamned kids again, or I'll be so mad at you that you won't want to guess what'll happen! I'll be down in a minute…OVER AND OUT!" she barked as she slammed down the phone. "Damn teenager mentality!" Nova mumbled.

"Derek?" Nova said as she kissed her husband and got out from under the sheet and blanket, shivering a little as the cold air made goose pimples appear from head to toe on her nude body.

"Yeah?"

"Baby call. I'll bring them up here with us…Dawn's too agitated and tired to deal with this. God knows how she'll deal with her own kids at 0300 in the morning when she brings them home with Jefferson. Where's my robe again?"

"Locker," yawned Derek.

Nova opened the locker, stepped into her thongs, and clad herself in a knee-length white robe. "There'd better be an alert in the next hour…see you in a bit..."

"Bye, Peppermint," muttered Derek.

Nova yawned and said, "I need space java right now in a major way…"

A few minutes passed on the Bridge while, elsewhere on the ship, Nova went down to see Dawn, gave her the rough side of her tongue, and collected her children, calming Alex casually with one of her breasts as the worst of his hunger and thirst was taken care of by Mommy as Nova watched Dawn diapering Ariel. Then, she left to take the kids back up to their cabin.

Back on the Bridge, Henson asked Sandor, "Should I power down one of the auxilaay engines for a check now?"

"Not yet," Sandor replied. "It's possible we may need it later this watch. I…"

"I have a weird feeling about this," muttered Sasha.

Rosstowski sat up, hard, as he said, "What sort of feeling?"

"Yeah, what?" said Eager. "An Iscandarian flash of some kind?"

"A vague feeling of unease, and…"

At that, the Time Radar began to go off. "I've just picked up an intercept!" Sasha barked. "This was in this space two point five hours ago…have a look?"

Sasha pulled up an image. It was of a rather large-looking spacecraft, an odd design that none of them had ever seen before. It looked like some kind of…centipede?"

"That thing's ugly.." said Sasha. "It…"

"I'm seeing a cargo ship nearby," said Rosstowski as he pointed up. "Look!"

Sasha's mouth fell open as the centipede quickly attacked the cargo vessel, blowing it to pieces before it warped out in a shimmer and glare of light. Sasha then said, "I'm reading debris! Metal…plastic…and…I think…bodies! NO!"

"Miss Reiter," said Sandor. "Have you picked up a distress signal?"

"No…nothing…"

"Nothing to pick up….that ship destroyed them," said Sasha as she tried to choke back tears. "Ident says that ship was a _Parkesburg_-class ore vessel. Crew of twenty, all dead!"

"Hmmm," said Sandor as he pushed aside his relief and looked some controls. "That thing had Magna-Power engines. It could be from the Comet Empire! This is NOT good!"

"Should we have an alert?" said Rosstowski.

"What if they come back, sir?" said Henson.

Sandor stood up, sweating slightly as he said, "No alert…yet…..but I _am _getting the Captain! He and Nova need to see this. We might be dealing with a new enemy…._another_ new enemy! Or maybe an old enemy who has just thrown an armistice agreement out the window!"

"Not good," said Eager.

"Sasha, keep on watching that radar until we get the Lieutenant Commander down here to make some scans! I'll be right back! Rosstowski, you have the conn!

"Yessir," replied Paul, who suddenly realized that until they got back…he was now in command of the legenadry _Argo_.

* * *

In the meantime, in a growing frazzle because of the unknown enemy, and unaware of (and indifferent to) what might be happening in the Wildstars' lives at 0430 in the morning, Sandor banged at the hatch to the Captain's quarters, and then just pulled it open, yelling, "Captain! With all respect, we need you!" but regretting his choice as soon as he heard a baby gurgling.

But, it was too late. Sandor was facing the outer dome, which was open. The _Argo_ was pointing towards the Sun, so Sandor found himself looking at the Captain's bunk, which was down. Near the dome, the Captain sat there, barely visible in the dazzling light, clad in only pajama bottoms, bouncing his son on his knee. His hair was far more messed up than normal, and it was one of the few times Sandor had ever seen Alex Wildstar's little brother in need of a shave.

Not far away, towards the bulkhead, semi-visible in the dazzling sunlight, Nova also sat on the bunk. She was about to pick up Ariel, who was crawling towards her on the bed.

Nova was caught with a blush, and a fawn-in-the-headlights look (that Derek thought was just _adorable_ later on when he caught a security camera readout of Sandor's entry). She had been about to nurse Ariel and Alex, so she had simply thrown off her robe. Thus, at the moment, except for one rubber shower flip-flop, Nova sat there looking heartrendingly beautiful in the nude. Only a hurriedly placed left hand saved her from total exposure. Steve tried not to look too much, but he couldn't help it as Nova then took Alex, put him on her left thigh and tenderly offered her breast again to the baby, innocently unmindful of her complete exposure. When he refused Mommy, just playing with her breast because he had had his fill while Mommy had been carrying him up to their cabin with her robe partially open, Derek grinned and took him back. Nova snapped in a sleepy voice, "Steve, it's _0430! _What _is_ it? I'm sorry, but…I'm…we're…kind of busy!"

"Yeah, this had better be good!" Derek snapped as he was suddenly aware of Sandor's presence as he stood there while his naked, half-asleep young wife picked up Ariel and began to feed her.

"Uh….a radar trace we picked up on the Time Radar…a ship that attacked and destroyed a freighter….was in our space recently, sir. I didn't call an alert, but if the size of this thing is…right…"

Derek threw a blanket over Nova's lap (now, he was more mindful of his young wife's nakedness than she was, occupied with the babies) as she continued to feed and snuggle their daughter. "Is it attacking the ship now?"

"No, but….it looks like it's 1500 meters long, and…"

Ariel's whimper reminded Sandor of where he was. He felt worse as her heard Nova cooing, "_Is that still what you want, Ariel…there_?" and then, since he was trying not to stare too much, he nonetheless saw her getting up, holding the blanket to her waist with one hand and holding her baby girl to her breast with her other hand. The tender scene looked…adorable. Sandor felt more alone than ever as he glanced at Nova feeding the baby that her love and Derek's had produced. _That's something I'll probably never know_, he thought mournfully for a moment. _Diane knows…I…I can't conceive a child…damn that accident I had as a boy!_

"Sorry I caught you and Nova at a bad time, sir, I…"

"Steve, _beat_ it!" Derek snapped.

"Derek, wait. Steve, send the video right to my desk up here in a feed. I'll look at it while I'm finishing with the kids. I…I do stuff like this all the time at home…you'll understand someday when you and Diane get married, especially if you have twins… and…oh, darn, I…"

Sandor stepped back, saluted, and walked out the hatch backwards…the last he saw of Wildstar was of him picking up the blanket.

Poor Nova had dropped it. Again.

He was trying not to chuckle as the hatch closed.

Four minutes later, still in their cabin, Nova was studying the Time Radar feed at her desk as she sat in her chair with Ariel in her lap, now as naked as Eve in the Garden schrunched up on her bare feet as she tried to be a mother and an officer at the same time.

"Now why the hell was he panicking like that?" Wildstar snapped. "I felt like _punching_ him! He knows better! Call us first! You should have belted him!"

"I _might_ have slapped him, except that when I'm upset, I've found the milk goes bad and they barf it up. You know, Derek. I'm more concerned about them then me. If someone sees me with my boobs out or naked while I do this, so? Besides, Derek, he was panicking for a good reason! It's because this thing _is_ 1.5 kilometers long. I've never seen a mecha like this before in my life; take a look! If the Gamilons weren't on our side, you'd think they would have built this ship. It looks organic! And look at how it wiped out that ship! I feel so bad for those people!"

Derek leaned over his wife's bare shoulder, making her giggle a little when he kissed her neck. "It looks like…some kind of Centipede? Nova, what are you reading on this thing?"

"I'm reading old traces of cordite and propellant," she said as she simultaneously burped Ariel. "Those legs on that thing are missiles. About a hundred and fifty of them," Nova said, using her toes to point to the screen since her hands were full with Ariel. Somehow (Derek never knew how she had the flexibility to do so), Nova used her big toe to hit "ENTER" on her keyboard and said, "Close-up view. See the fins on that thing? Get us uniforms, please. When she's full, I'm dropping her off and we're heading to the First Bridge."

Derek nodded, helping Nova to step into her underthings and tights and the rest of her uniform as she ran to the bed, still with Ariel in her lap, alternating between putting on her boots and pulling a fresh shirt over her baby girl's little bare chest. "Derek, what's Alex doing?"

"Sleeping," he said as he pulled on his trousers. "I noticed he wasn't hungry. He was playing with the milk source rather than drinking it, then he dropped off again."

"Good guy," Nova whispered as Derek tucked him into his carrier. Nova kissed his nose and said, "Mommy is taking you two back to Sickbay, where, hopefully, Auntie Dawn is being a good girl now and has calmed down. Okay?"

"Momma uniform funny," Ariel said as Nova slowly zipped her suit up.

"Shh," Nova said. "You'll have Mommy again later. Want to try split peas again?"

Ariel caught the screen and giggled, "bugbugbugbugbugbug, BUG!"

"That's right, it's a bug mecha," said Derek as he closed his peacoat and pulled on his cap. "Hopefully, Daddy and Mommy don't have to exterminate it…"

Ten minutes later, the Captain and Nova arrived together on the bridge. Some kind of alert must have been called, for they saw regular crewmembers coming back to their posts. Eager was at her radar, and he said, "The ship's getting closer! Following us at twelve megameters' range."

Nova took back her post, flicked switches, and said, "Eager, was this the best you could get of it?"

"It's got electronic counter measures up its butt someplace," he drawled. "Good thing you stuck the Time Radar on cook setting or we never mighta found it!"

"Cook setting," Nova mumbled. "That's a new one. Its energy source seems to be magna-power of some kind. I'm getting a clearer trace of it now!"

"Cometines," said Sandor flatly as Nova sent him the data. "It has to be!"

"Excuse me?" said Wildstar from the Captain's station after he sat down.

"They're the only race we know of that uses Magna-Energy," said Sandor. "Wildstar, if it's them, they just breached the cease-fire and armistice. You know the legalities. They are not supposed to bring any new armed types of spacecraft into the solar system, nor are they supposed to be running recon on us."

"Recon?" Derek said.

Nova hit some buttons and said, "I'm trying to jam it, Derek, but they're snooping. They've painted us with three kinds of sensors in the last thirty seconds plus two kinds of sensors I don't even know about! And they're coming in closer; range, ten megameters! Make that nine megameters! Make that _eight!_ Speed, twenty-nine space knots and sharply increasing! That bug's being really aggressive!"

"Damn thing's on an intercept course!" yelled Eager. "They ain't playin' games!"

"Taking evasive action!" snapped Kitano from his post

"That's _it!_" Wildstar snapped as he hit the alert switch and grabbed his microphone."Attention all hands, attention, all hands, this is the Captain! All hands to combat stations! Repeat, all hands to combat stations! This is not a drill, I repeat, this is NOT a drill! All hands to…"

"Missiles approaching!" barked Eager.

The _Argo_ dodged the missiles while Domon nodded to Rosstowski. Paul said, "Open gun turrets number one and two! Target; enemy vessel! Turret aberration, plus five! Locking on target!" he said as the Argo's main guns raised and locked on, ready to fire in authentic anger for the first time in months. "Ready to fire on your orders, Captain!"

"Domon, arm all forward weapons, ready to fire on my…"

"It's sending some kind of communication!" said Homer. "Voice-only!"

"Switch to the main speakers!" Wildstar ordered.

A loud hum came up, and then the sound of someone cleariing their voice. Then, an arrogant, cold voice said, "You big ugly vessel! What reason do you have for approaching us in this fashion?"

"_You big, ugly vessel_," repeated Wildstar mockingly. "That's a new one. You're intruding in our territorial space and you fired upon my ship once, and we also have information indicating that you just wiped out an unarmed, unescorted cargo vessel a few hours ago like a space pirate! State your identity and planet of origin at once!"

"Tell me yours," said the mocking voice. "And tell me what sort of undeveloped _dump _of a star system this is?"

"This is the Sol System, and you have entered into the territorial space of the Earth Federation! You are speaking to the space battleship _Argo_. My name is Commodore Derek Wildstar, commander of this vessel and commander of the elite First Star Force Special Unit. Where are you from, and do you have anything to do with the Cometine Empire, OVER!"

"My, my, _my_, kiddo, do you have high blood pressure?" said the mocking voice. "You must have a high anxiety level. Don't worry. Spectra can do all sorts of things to help you. We can sell you lots of pills, after you bow to the Great Spirit and enter our Dominion, of course!"

"They've got video coming in!" said Homer.

"Well, switch it to the main screen!"

"The gain's really weird. It's distorted!" Homer said.

"Well, put it up!" Derek ordered.

"Yessir," said Homer.

An image came up of a group of about nine Terran-looking men, all of whom wore masks in a strange Bridge or Control Room that Wildstar assumed was that of the centipede mecha. It was so distorted that it made the grid lines on the _Argo's_ screen look totally distorted.

The man who was evidently their commander was a very weird-looking individual who wore a purple cloak lined with red satin, strange high brown boots, and a mask that made him look like some weird cross between a purple mountain lion and a purple Doberman. Derek also noticed that the weird-looking commander seemed to have pink lipstick on.

_Lipstick?_ Derek thought with distaste. _The only men I've ever seen in lipstick were in costume at the midnight __Rocky Horror Picture Show__ Nova took me to once for a laugh. He looks like something from some ancient anime series._

"Okay, _you_," Wildstar said. "First, take off that _stupid mask_. I don't normally talk to people wearing masks."

"_You_ take off that stupid yachting cap, hippie-boy," mocked the enemy commander.

"Like hell," said Wildstar. "This is a symbol of my rank."

"My mask is a symbol of my rank, _Wildhair_," snapped the enemy commander. "For your information, my name is General Ibn Zoltar the Illustrious, probably to be the next Grand Chairman of Spectra soon since our lord lies on his deathbed. I am doing his bidding. That is why I wiped that ship out, for your information! I demanded their surrender and they refused, so I jammed their transmissions and dealt with them as they deserved to be dealt with, so it is now upon their own heads as they burn in Hell! Anyone ever tell you that you have a stupid-looking crew, son? The kid in the front next to the droid looks like he stuck his finger in a socket and thus all of his hair is standing on end, the kid next to him in green and white looks retarded, the guy in blue and white has no eyebrows, the guy next to him in green and white looks like he overeats, while the blonde chick near him in the yellow catsuit looks anorexic. The girl in the orange and white outfit has grease on her face and looks idiotic, the guy in yellow looks like he is gay, and the guy beside him with the messy brown hair looks like a jerk from South Philly! And your droid looks like a red trashcan!"

IQ-9 got up and said, "I am not a trashcan! I am a genius robot! Take back what you said about Nova! I am in love with her! She is the most beautiful woman in the universe! If you hate her, you hate all women! Men and women are equal! Are you a man or a woman?"

"None of your _business_!" yelled Zoltar. "Will you surrender, Wildhair?"

"You should be the one who is surrendering," said Wildstar. "You are the one intruding in _our_ space, you _terrorist_!"

"And you are the one who offends me with your stupid dress sense!" yelled Zoltar. "Peacoats went out in the Napoleonic Wars! And don't you know that red and black clash? Who dresses you in the morning, _lover-boy_? The anorexic chick, or the fat one?"

Zoltar laughed insanely as he cut off.

"I'm not anorexic," Nova huffed.

"I'm not fat," said Diane.

As the ship fired more missiles, Nova said, "Recommend evasive! And he's getting closer! Range, seven megameters!"

"I have the feeling that man is insane, Wildstar," said Sandor. "He can't be reasoned with, or negotiated with."

"Good for us," said Wildstar as he folded his arms, "Mister Domon, fire at will! Let's send that madman to Hell where _he_ belongs!"

"We gave him his chance," said Domon. "Main guns, OPEN FIRE!"

The _Argo's_ guns fired one, two, three tiimes.

The third salvo blew off the centipede's tail and about five of its segments.

On board the enemy vessel, one of the crewmen said, "General Zoltar. We've lost four segments and the supply of poison gas for their homeworld! We have to abort the mission! That ship is very strong and has heavy firepower! Just as we were warned!"

"It's just under a fifth as big as we are. If we hit those naval turrets on that floating nightmare, we can capture it!" Zoltar said. "Then we can do what I should have done to that freighter and her crew, namely captured them and turned them all into slaves!"

The centipede shook again as more segements were blown off of it.

"Lordship! That big ugly ship is launching space interceptors!"

"Interceptors would tie us down too long," said Zoltar. "Fire missiles at them and the big ugly boat and let's warp out of here! We can scavenge upon them another day!"

The centipede fired twelve missiles….six at Hardy's and Wakefield's approaching squadrons, and six at the _Argo_. There were multiple hits to the Tigers and to the ship.

But the strange ship just ran, warping away right as Hardy and his wingmen fired missiles at it.

"_Damn_ them!" said Hardy as he banged a gloved hand on his dashboard.

**FOUR HOURS LATER….**

Commodore Wildstar visited Sickbay. "How's things?"

Doctor Sane sighed. "Casualties could have been heavier. Three dead, ten injured, mostly shrapnel and radiation burns. We've warped to the Mikanus System already?"

Derek nodded his head. "We have to go on with these trials and test the wave motion gun. We can't be interrupted in any more tests. Not now! Any more interruptions while we do so will make our test results for that phase useless!"

Nova came up, saluting as she stood there in a slightly bloody nurses' smock. "Our injured are okay. Dawn and Sasha are not among them. Luckily, neither Alexander nor Ariel are among them, either. They're sleeping now. God bless them. They slept right through a _battle!_ Poor dears," Nova said as she wiped her eyes and Derek hugged her.

"We'll be fine," said Derek. "I think we gave that enemy unit a scare. They shouldn't be coming back. I hope. It's whoever _sent_ them that worries me!"

"Derek, do they have guest quarters on that prison asteroid?" Nova asked.

"Why?"

"Request permission to be relieved of duty and dropped off there later today with Alex, Ariel, Dawn and Sasha until you finish the trials in five days. Then you can pick us up."

"Nova…they have guest quarters there…but near the Second Cellblock! Would you want to subject our children to the sights and sounds of a prison?"

"It might be safer there than here," Nova said sadly.

"Nova, yes, there is a threat of enemy attack, but here, you are as safe as possible. The babies are either in Sickbay or our cabin, and those are among the most well-armored parts of the ship by design. No one will hurt any of you here, unless, God forbid, we get boarded. In that prison, you would be just meters away from cuthroats and madmen like Hartcliffe, or even worse. And it is a _men's_ prison. Women would not be safe there. In fact, regs keep you from even going into the place! I could relieve you from duty if you feel you can't be a mother and my officer at the same time, but, no…you are not leaving this ship until we make the next safe port, which is home. Do you want me to relieve you of duty?"

Nova looked down at her white boots and shook her head "No, Derek. I didn't know all of that about that asteroid. Thank you, and you need not relieve me of duty. I am…capable of doing my job…I…"

Nova grabbed a tissue from a dispenser and sneezed into it.

"You okay?" Derek said.

"Sinuses…I think. That attack must've shaken up some durt from the refit. Let me go check on the kids."

Nova kissed Derek and took off.

_Okay, I wonder what's going to be on the agenda next?_ Wildstar thought. _Those jokers had better not come back._

**TO BE CONTINUED….**


	7. Chapter 7

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

_Also, thanks to "Yuki Wildstar" for helping to provide some of the artwork used in this chapter._

**PART SEVEN: SPACE TRIALS CONTINUE AND A PULP NOIR TALE ENDS **

**I. REPORT**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**The Vicinity of Pluto**

**Sunday, April 3, 2208**

**0600 Hours Local Time**

"Captain…a call is coming in from the Commander," said Homer.

"Put him on the video panel," said Wildstar. He rose and saluted along with the rest of the bridge crew as Commanding General Singleton appeared on the screen.

"Good morning, Commodore," said General Singleton. "I've just heard of the loss of the ore carrier ship _Monongahela_, Wildstar. I wish we were speaking under better circumstances. Were you able to get a clue where the enemy ship was headed when it warped away?"

"I'm afraid not, sir," said Derek as he bowed his head. "If we had an idea of where it was headed, we would already be in hot pursuit of that…_thing_. So we discover a new enemy, sir. I had no idea a planet known as "Spectra" even existed."

"The same goes for our allies," said the Commander. "I've already conferred with the embassy staffs at the Gamilon, Iscandarian, Pellian, and Rikashan Embassies. None of them have ever heard of Spectra, either, and all of those Ambassadors are calling their homeworlds for more information. I was already informed by the Gamilons that Desslok himself wants to confer with you about this enemy later on. I gave him a rough idea of your course so he can contact you later on. He's on patrol in his flagship right now near the edge of the Great Magellenic Cloud."

Commodore Wildstar nodded and said, "And what about our tests?"

"Continue with them," said Singleton. "Be careful when you warp out to the Mikanus System, though. Special Services tells us that they are picking up chatter that someone knows about this test, or suspects we are out there to do something. If you see any unidentified ships, be on your guard."

"Yessir," said Wildstar. "Any other orders?"

The Commander then said, "Two Special Services officers will be waiting to meet you on Pluto later on after the test to discuss the results. A two-star Intelligence General named Riker O'Malley and his assistant, a Roving Intelligence Officer known as Major Gary Maples." For some reason, a cold shiver ran down Sasha's back at Anaylsis as soon as she heard that name, and her bare legs felt very, _very_ cold. Sasha glanced at Nova, who was at the Cosmo-Radar, and a look of unease ran across Nova's fine features. Sasha picked up Nova thinking, _I'm sorry, but there is something I do not like about that guy!_ Sasha looked in her aunt's eyes, nodded back, and she wondered why, inside her, her baby daughter was kicking very hard, as if she was suddenly upset.

Singleton continued with, "Be sure to let them know everything, Wildstar. And keep an eye out for that enemy vessel. I know you said you damaged it when it attacked, but…do you have any questions?"

"I do," said Derek. "Are we formally on deployment now?"

The Commander said, "I raised that possibility with the Earth Defense Council, and they don't think it's warranted…yet. However, if any more of those vessels show up…it may happen…I may have to order you to full duty myself on my own authority with a full crew. If you'll be home in a few days, I see no need to evacuate any dependents on your command or to reassign their caregivers to planetside commands with them," said Singleton. "If anything changes, though, we may have to make some changes," said Singleton as he glanced at Nova and Sasha. "If that happens, the officers in question would be reassigned to a planetside command together, with either a unit on Ganymede or one in San Diego. However, I expect to see all of you back home in a few days, and each of you will be heavily debriefed at that time."

"Anything else, sir?" said Derek.

"Nothing," said Singleton. "Good luck and Godspeed, Commodore."

"You too, sir," said Wildstar as he saluted, hand to his heart. The Commander flipped a hand up to his brow in salute to return it as the screen went dark.

"So, your take on this?" asked Derek as he turned to Sandor.

"We'd better be ready for action at any time, Wildstar," Sandor replied. "We're warping at 0700?"

"Yes, Sandor, right on schedule," said Derek.

Nova glanced at something on her radar and suddenly stood up and saluted. "Captain, request permission to leave my post for…about fifteen minutes. I need to talk with Sandor about something…in private. I just remembered that there is something I have to clear up…with him…"

Sandor's eyes went wide at that, thinking, _I think I must have really ticked Nova off before when I popped in on them before. Sometimes I let tech matters ovewhelm me so much that I forget…as I said years ago, a ship is people….not just machines. Nova's always been one of my dearest friends. I hope I didn't make her too angry before…_

"Permission granted," said Wildstar. "You two get this cleared up in fifteen minutes and get back to your posts. I have to talk with him later about something…"

Nova said, "Thank you, sir. Sasha, take my post."

Sandor looked at IQ-9, who was standing nearby, awaiting some figures. "You take my post, Tinwit.."

"Yessir," said IQ-9.

Steve and Nova walked together in a tense silence as Nova led them to the near-darkened aft observation deck.

Nova leaned against the rail and faced Sandor in silence as she cleared her throat. Sandor coughed slightly and said, "Nova…I owe you and Derek a big apology for intruding on you before…I.."

"No big deal, Steve," Nova sighed. "If I had been thinking more clearly, I'd have remembered that you saw pretty much everything on me _already_ when you saw me with the kids that time in the hospital in just my robe…and helped take a video of me with them in the tub a few weeks ago. Sorry about that. But I really owe you an apology for something else _I _said, dear Steve," Nova said as she suddenly wiped a tear away from the corner of her right eye. "I….I said something horribly, _horribly_ insensitive to you before, Steve. And I've felt like yesterday's garbage ever since."

"It was?" said Sandor as he suddenly remembered. "Oh…that comment you made about when Diane and I…"

"I forgot you can't father children, Steve," Nova said in a choked-up voice. "I know all of your medical records and help Doctor Sane with the adjustments of all your bionics..I, of all people should have _remembered_ what you can't do! And I'm so _sorry_!"

Nova stood there with glistening, sad eyes filled with self-reproach. "Nova, it's all right," said Sandor as he took her hands and patted them. "Don't blame yourself. You weren't anywhere near that amusement park on the moon, and you…"

"I just feel so bad, Steve! I can be so _insensitive_ at times!" she said as she fell against Sandor, crying her eyes out. "I''m so sorry, Steve…catch me half asleep around the kids and I turn into a real bitch!"

Sandor stroked Nova's hair, not expecting that this talk would go here. "Nova, with you, you are the one woman I know who is so kind that your name and the word 'bitch' don't even belong in the same star system together."

"But I make _mistakes,_ Steve!" Nova protested.

"Hey, kid, that makes two of us," said Sandor as he chuckled with his slightly cracked laugh.

Nova patted his cheek and said, "You crack me up whenever you do that!"

"Hey, you're always the one encouraging _me _when I make cracks about my arms and legs being high-tech explosive Popsicle sticks!" Sandor then said, "I guess Diane and I could always adopt…"

"Did you two set a date yet?" Nova asked.

"No," Steve finally admitted.

"Is this one of the reasons why?" Nova said softly.

Sandor nodded. "I think so…and my self-consicousness about letting her see _these_," he said as he tapped his opposite arm.

"So, if I can ask a personal question…which base on the proverbial diamond have you gotten to with her?" Nova said quietly. "I'll keep my mouth shut. I won't even tell Derek."

"Thank you," Sandor said. "First base only…and that was sort of a walk," Sandor said, blushing deeply. "We've talked a lot but haven't gotten even back on the field since. It almost feels like Tricia and I all over again," he said, mentioning the woman he had been married to for a year in 2196. Irony upon ironies, the only three women Steve had ever dated were his ex-wife Tricia Pilgrim, Nova herself (one date only, a very awkward one well before she knew Derek; they got on much better as close friends) and, of course, Diane. Otherwise, Steve's work had been his lover…a very lonely and cold lover.

"I know you went to home base with your previous wife," said Nova.

"Yeah…if you could call it that," Sandor chuckled grimly. "Towards the end, she didn't even like going past second with me. Nonetheless, I know where you and Derek have been…"

"Yeah, grand slam," Nova blurted as she blushed deeply. "I….wait a minute."

"Nova?" said Sandor.

"We might be able to do something for you," Nova said. "Something with stem cell recombinant programming…the coding is getting more complex, and…"

"Nova?" said Steve.

"I don't know if I can promise anything," Nova said. "I'll have to research the journals…but I think we can do something for you, sir…" she said.

"What?" said Steve.

"Make it so you and Diane can set a wedding date soon? And maybe won't have to adopt? We'll talk about it later in Sickbay after I research the journals and maybe have you and Diane play with the kids for a bit? That is, if we're not all packed off the ship to safety soon. Let's get back to the bridge."

**II. TEST THE POWER OF THE REFITTED WAVE MOTION GUN!**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**The Mikanus System**

**Sunday, April 3, 2208**

**0700 Hours Local Time**

There was silence and emptiness in deep space near the lonely, rocky little planet known as Mikanus VIII. The lifeless little ball of rock orbited its star, just as it had since the day of Creation long ago.

Suddenly, that peace and silence was disturbed as subspace ripped open, and a huge space battleship blasted in from warp in a massive flare of light.

A moment later, the _Argo_ sat in a very far orbit of Mikanus VIII, at many thousands' of megameters range from the planet.

"Damn, that warp was a corker for some reason," muttered Commodore Derek Wildstar as he took off his cap and rubbed his face over his head in an effort to clear it. "Did we just come through the hyperspace Long Island Expressway or something?"

"Yeah…I feel weird," said Kitano at his post.

"I nearly threw up," muttered Domon as he pulled his head up off his panel. "Nova, ma'am," he said as he looked aft. "How'd you take that?"

There was no answer. "Hey, is Nova all right?" said Domon. "_Sandor_?"

Sandor raised his head and moaned. "Captain, is there any way you can check Nova? She's hanging halfway out of her warp harness."

Derek ran down and both her and Sandor found Nova not only hanging out of her harness but very unconscious. Derek pulled back her chair from the radar as Sasha came over. Derek and Sandor then freed Nova from her harness and watched as she sagged halfway out of her chair like a limp rag doll.

"Faint-out," muttered Sandor.

"Does this happen often?" Sasha said. "Did she prepare well enough for the warp?"

"It sometimes happens to the most seasoned space travelers," said Derek. "Among all of the other side effects we know of," he said as he thought of one time about two years ago when Nova had come out of warp…but her uniform hadn't. The same thing had also once happened to Eager. Derek gave his wife a few hard pats on the cheek and said, "C'mon, Lieutenant Commander, gimme a sign!"

"Uhhhhnnn," Nova said as she opened her eyes. "Are we there yet?" she mumbled as she sat up. "What are all of you looking at?"

"Faint-out; you know they happen sometimes after space warps," said Sandor. "Today it was you, Nova."

"_Great_," she mumbled. She looked down at herself, and noticed that fact that everything under her uniform was more prominent than usual. For simple ease of access (or undress) in case she needed to give her babies a sudden feed or bath, she had decided to go simply go naked under her uniform for at least part of the day. Nova then muttered what was on her mind as she said, "Who had to make these uniforms _spandex_? Sometimes I swear, they show off far too much….and, Derek, I was thinking of the kids when we warped…I…"

Both Wildstar and Sandor helped Nova sit up, and Derek said, "Got your space legs back now?"

"Aye, aye," Nova said. She sat up and pushed herself back to her post, and her eyes went wide as a blip appeared on her screen…and then faded.

"Now, what's that?" she said. "Is this thing picking up a _ghost_ image?"

"What's the range?" asked Domon.

Nova took some scans. "Fifty-two thousand megameters out…if it even exists. I hope it's not hitting that radar blind spot I keep on griping about in our reports. Sandor, did they ever fix that, yet?"

"They said they made progress on it, but in our trials, I've seen it's still there, albeit somewhat smaller," he said.

"Yeah," sighed Eager. "I wish they could fix that thing someday.."

"Do you think we need to call the crew together to brief them on the Hyper-Aspect of the wave gun before the test?" said Sandor.

"No…I think it would be covered by a brief lecture from the bridge over the PA," said Derek. "Then, we'll test it and see what happens."

"What's this change I've been hearing about in the wave gun?" said Homer.

"You'll find out in a moment," said Commodore Wildstar as he went to his post. He took off his cap, took up his mike and said, "Attention, all hands! This is your Captain speaking! We are in the Mikanus System now, orbiting Mikanus VIII. For reasons that will soon become obvious to you, we have chosen this location for the first operational test at full power of our refitted wave motion gun. As all of you know, the wave motion gun works on the principle of taking the same tachyon particles that power the ship in the wave motion engine, enabling us to cruise at high speed in normal space, and to make jumps into Warp Space, also known as the Fourth Dimension or Hyperspace."

Derek cleared his throat as he said, "The following information is to be considered highly classified, and it is to be discussed only with fellow members of this Star Force Unit, the Second Star Force, the crew of the new Earth Cobined Fleet flagship _Aquarius_, and with the Command Staff of the Earth Defense Forces. Only our vessel, the _Arizona_, and the _Aquarius_ have been outfitted with this uprated version of the wave motion gun. Development began when we noticed that Desslok's new flagship, the _Excelsior_, was outfitted with a very powerful version of the Gamilon Surge Cannon known as the Hyper-Desslok Gun. We took some scans of Desslok's flagship, and discovered, since the Gamilons were understandably secretive about their new weapon, that the power rating of Desslok's flagship was well off our known scales. It was felt that we had to approach that power rating in our own ships. After much research and reverse engineering, based upon those scans, we believe we discovered, at least partially, how the Gamilons accomplished this power rating increase. Commander Sandor, Lieutenant Commander Wildstar, and Lieutenant Commander Henson helped our staff come up with the new equations necessary to allow us to tap tachyon energy at a hyper-mode and to harness that energy in the wave motion gun and build an improved protective magnetic field. With that said….the wave motion gun, as now fitted in our ship, the _Arizona_, and the _Aquarius_, has two modes of operation now. The first mode is the regular mode, which gives us a power increase of twenty-five percent, and an increased range to fifty megameters. This will be the range we ordinarily will use in most combat, and the latency period, or time that the wave engine goes down until it can be recharged, is now one and a half minutes."

Commodore Wildstar said, "The second mode, or hyper-mode, is the most powerful, but the most dangerous. Under that mode, our power rating is increased by three hundred percent…or that is our estimate. The range will increase to one hundred megameters, and the time we lose power under this mode is just under three minutes. Under this mode, the wave motion gun is only to be fired by the Captain of the vessel that it is outfitted with. Also, under this mode, we are under orders not to fire if we are facing a planet that has life on it, especially intelligent life. The reason why is…" Derek paused as some very unwelcome memories came to mind. "Some of you who were here aboard this ship on our first mission remember what happened when we were forced to fire the original version of the wave motion gun at the volcanic system that then existed on Gamilon. The resulting explosion, even though we did not intend it, caused an eruption that decimated the entire planet of Gamilon and wiped out most of its civilization. It is our guess that with this power upgrade to the wave motion gun, we now may have the power not to simply destroy a floating continent, a base, or an asteroid, but may now have in our hands the power to devastate or even destroy an entire small planet in one shot. This sort of power has been placed in our hands only if we again have to fight a mighty or implacable enemy that cannot be defeated by other means…an enemy such as Ekogaru in a New Fortress or a Cometine Base ship with the power of the _Eritz Gatlantis._ This is not a power to be used lightly. With this power, we may now, as in the words of the ancient _Gitas_, have literally become "_Death…the Destroyer of Worlds_"

Derek paused again in silence as he let his words sink in and then he said, "We are about to test the wave motion gun today in Hyper-Mode. The target will be Planet Mikanus VIII. Fortunately, it is an uninhabited and _totally_ lifeless world. We shall see…what remains of it after we fire the gun."

Commodore Wildstar put down his mike, and then he said, "Mister Kitano, turn us towards the planet. Any point on its surface will do."

"Yessir," he said as the _Argo_ made a turn and faced the planet. "Facing dead-on towards the planet's equator."

"Mrs. Wakefield, please leave the Bridge and head to Sickbay for a few minutes. Mister Domon will take over at Analysis."

"Yessir," said Sasha as she stood, saluted, and walked off the bridge after she whispered to Nova she'd help Dawn check on the babies. She was grateful she had been dismissed. She didn't agree with the fact that the _Argo_ now had this much power, and she had made that known to her Uncle, who had then, given her condition, granted her the option not to witness the test. Domon took over at Analysis while Derek shrugged off his peacoat and walked over to Combat. There, he worked a control, and the deadly, gleaming firing pistol came up.

"Miss Henson…" Derek ordered.

"Yessir?"

"Prepare for the transfer of energy to the wave motion gun."

"Yessir," she said in a subdued fashion. "All engines, stop!"

The _Argo's_ engines went silent.

Then, Derek prepared to activate a new control on the Combat desk. "Preparing for Hyper-Mode. Mechnical Group Leader, Combat is Cleared for activation."

Sandor put his hand on an identical control lever at his post. "Preparing for Hyper-Mode. Mechanical is Cleared for activation," he said in a new part of the checklist.

Nova, then, as Second Officer, spoke up. "Combat, Mechanical, do you concur one with the other?"

"Aye," said Sandor.

"Aye," said Derek. "Activate and lock!"

The two safety dials were turned at once, and several lights near the wave motion gun firing grip went green.

"Begin transfer of energy to the wave motion gun!" snapped Derek. "Open the circuit!"

"Energy transfer beginning," said Henson as the ominous hum of the charging sequence began, with that hum being a bit heavier than usual."Energy level at sixty-five percent!"

"Open safety lock!" snapped Wildstar as he worked the familiar controls.

A voice from below in the bow firing room, that of IQ-9, said, "Acknowledged! Safety lock opened!" as the huge barrel opened and slammed into place.

Nova took a scan and said, "Equator of Planet Mikanus VIII confirmed! Range, one hundred megameters to surface! Confirming range as one hundred thousand kilometers!"

"Right on target," said Wildstar. "Target scope, _open!_ Electric Crossgauge set at two point zero zero! All hands, don anti-shock and anti-flash defenses!"

As Derek pulled down his goggles, he remembered what had happened when they had first fired the Wave Motion Gun at the Floating Continent near Jupiter nearly eight and a half years ago. _Now,_ he thought, _I'm a father, and I'm older, maybe wiser, and wondering if this is the right thing to do. Captain Avatar, I wonder if you approve of what we're about to do?_ he thought. _Because I'm not sure I approve….and it could be very dangerous…I hope and pray we don't damage the ship with this. _

"Energy Level, now at eighty percent!" said Henson.

"Sixty seconds to firing…all hands brace for recoil shock!" said Wildstar as the familiar power-up sequence continued and the firing gate of the _Argo_ began to glow with suppressed energy as the protective magnetic field reached full strength.

Some time passed, and Henson said, "Energy now at ninety percent!"

"Thirty seconds to firing," said Wildstar. "Nova, record and note the time!"

"Oh-seven-oh-nine hours, _mark_!" Nova said. _What are we about to do?_ Nova thought as her flesh began to turn cold. She looked out at the planet on her scope, and through her goggles, and thought, _What are we going to leave remaining? A devastated world? Maybe an asteroid belt? Maybe nothing? My God, is humanity even __meant__ to have this kind of power?_

"Energy level at one hundred and twenty percent!" said Henson. "Pressure Chamber has reached the saturation point!"

"Ten seconds to firing," said Derek. "Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four….three. two…one…FIRE!"

Commodore Wildstar pushed the firing trigger, and the familiar bang of the firing gate's opening rang through the ship, followed by the roar of the wave gun going off.

The roar was louder and more strident than usual as a waterfall of roaring, coruscating energy blasted out of the wave motion gun. The energy surge flickered with lightning bolts as it blasted through the vacuum into the vestigal atmosphere of Mikanus VIII.

The beam of energy slammed into the planet's cratered surface like a jackhammer biting into asphalt. Rather than just impacting into planet's crust and creating a deep crater, though, the beam roared down through the crust like a hot knife, blasting into the mantle, and causing ugly red cracks to appear on the planet's surface as the molten magma began to bleed out into space. As the planet was further compromised, the crust began to convulse and crack hundreds and then thousands of kilometers away from the impact point.

Down below, as she was holding Ariel, Sasha began to cry as she felt something weirdly metaphysical that felt like the planet screaming in pain, if such a thing could happen. "No…" she said as she handed Ariel to Dawn and fell crying to the deck. "God, no…no…no..no..NO!"

On the _Argo's_ bridge, the crew removed their goggles, staring at the weird spectacle before them as the planet began to glow dark red all over.

"What's happenin'?" said Eager.

"Simple, the magma is being liberated…and the wave energy is still boring down into the core," said Sandor as he watched his instruments in morbid fascination. "The power level was far more than even what I guessed."

"The planet's crust is _breaking up_!" Nova said as she read the radar screen. "Recommend evacuation from the area, Captain!"

"Kitano, turn about one hundred and eighty degrees!" said Wildstar.

Just as power came up, Kitano turned the _Argo_ about. "One hundred and eighty degree turn completed, Captain. Orders!"

"Full speed! Get us out of here!" Derek snapped. The _Argo's_ main and auxilary engines came up, blasting the ship away just as the dull red of the dying planet turned a brighter red. Asteroids began to fly past the ship as more of the crust came apart.

The _Argo_ accelerated faster, getting up to a speed over thirty space knots just as the energy reached the planet's core at last. The red light began to go white, bit by bit.

"The whole planet's coming apart!" Nova cried. "Thirty seconds to a full explosion, Derek!"

"SHORT WARP!" Wildstar barked.

The _Argo_ slammed into a short warp just as Mikanus VIII finally blew apart.

The ship emerged from warp a moment later, over five hundred thousand megameters away. Kitano then turned the ship about to watch just as a star appeared where Mikanus VIII had been. At a safe distance, they observed asteroids scattering everywhere, and then saw the site of the planet going dark as the last of the molten iron core bled off into space and cooled.

"What's left?" said Derek as he leaned over Nova's scope.

"A few asteroids…some gas…bits of iron…other than that, nothing," she said grimly. "Derek, we just destroyed a whole planet."

"The test was an…unexpected success," said Sandor.

"_Was_ it?" Derek snapped as he punched his fist. He went to his usual station and said, "Domon, resume your normal post at Combat! Sandor, you have the conn. I have to get out of here for a minute," he said after he put his peacoat and hat back on. Without looking at anyone, Commodore Wildstar sat in his chair and went up on the lift into his cabin.

"Should we follow him?" said Rosstowski.

"No…he'll come out of it," Nova sighed. "Eventually. I'll check on him later."

"That test was sure a success," said Eager.

"Like the Captain said, was it?" said Sandor. "Congratulations, universe. Earth can now destroy planets just like the Gamilons and the Cometines can. I don't know if that's such a great thing to brag about."

"We might need to use this power someday," said Homer.

"I hope not," Sandor said.

**IN THE MEANTIME**

**At the Edge of the Mikanus System…**

"General, sir, I recommend that we attack them right now," said Admiral Tendor of House Gatlantis aboard the Cometine Dreadnaught _Purification_. The black ship had been at the edge of the system for sometime, cunningly remaining in the _Argo's_ radar blind spot for the entire time except for the time Nova had almost spotted them.

"Why do you recommend we _attack_ them?" asked General Radnar as he sipped at a wine glass.

"You see what they can do! They are too great a threat to the Comet Empire to be allowed to live a single moment! _Damn_ the armistice!" yelled Tendor. "We have to crush them first, then we have to get the other two ships that they are outfitting with this _morbid_ weapon!"

"Zordar and Invidia once said that this was a marvelous planet and we could do great things with it," said Radnar. "Imagine if we had that much power _ourselves!_ And in a small fleet vessel like that! I am most impressed by this power," he mused. "Let us wait for now, report to Emperor Zordar back home, and bide our time. Maybe, just maybe, with the armistice in place…this will happen," said Radnar. "Earth had some wise men. Once, I read the words of a wise Terran Leader known as Nikita Kruschev. He was the Premier of a Great Power that came close to conquering their whole world, and was the leader under a system known as Communism. He was in a death struggle with another Great Power who defeated his people through treaties, a cunning military buildup, and an economic competition that the other Great Power, under a free-enterprise system known as Capitalism, eventually won. Earth today is a sort of synthesis between these two principles. This is germane to what I was thinking because Kruschev once said, "_Someday, we will hang all of the Capitalists. But, first, they shall sell us the rope!_""

"So?" said Tendor.

"It is simple. Someday, we will use their own weapon to intimidate or destroy them. But, until then, who knows….maybe they'll sell it to us! Wouldn't that be amusing? HA HA HA HA HA! ha ha!"

Tendor shook his head and said, "So, that means we leave them alone for now…just watch?"

"Yes," said Radnar. "Just let them be. And we watch. And we wait."

The comm system buzzed. An officer came up to Radnar and saluted. "Sir, it's Gamilon calling. Desslok tells us he has a squadron in the area that got some basic intelligence, but he states the information they sent him was incomplete. He requests a download of what we have. Shall we send it to him?"

"How did he find out we were here?" demanded Radnar.

"He said Astrena told him."

"Damn her and her powers," he muttered. "All right, send Desslok the report; but ask him not to let the Earthlings know we have been investigating their actions. Are we clear on that?"

"Aye, sir," said the officer.

In the meantime, on the _Argo_, Sasha, who was still quite upset, stood on the aft observation deck alone (after yet another argument with Dawn; the two pregnant and hormone-filled women were really clashing seriously with each other now). She was looking out into deep space with tears filling her eyes as she thought, _Why can we do this? I thought that we were going to use our power to defend the peace. I trust Uncle, I trust Mark…but I don't know if I trust the Earth Generals with this. There is something about some of them that just gives me the creeps. Stone…some of the others, and that one guy, Marlowe…Maples…what is his name? _Sasha thought as she touched her stomach.

Sasha then un-selfconsciously opened her uniform blouse and let her bare breasts and pregnant stomach tumble out. Just as with Nova during the latter part of her recent pregnancy, her breasts had also grown larger and more sensitive as her body prepared to give birth to her child. Sasha stroked her stomach as a slight glow came from her hands. She sent to her baby, who, as she could tell, smiled and weakly sent back to her from her womb, kicking a little and making her bare stomach jiggle as Sasha laughed. _Don't worry, little girl…I think your name will be Star,_ she thought soothingly as she contacted her baby in her womb and smiled as she stroked her stomach. _Your father, my dear husband Dekee, and I love you so much. Mommy is worried about you, but Mommy cares. I didn't tell Dekee, but Mommy could will for you to come at any time. I have the power to start my labor myself. I've already decided when I'd like you to be born, little one…April the thirtieth. That was a bad day for your father….he broke up with Dawn then, years ago, and he lost his father and sister on that day. I want to make it a good day for him; so, that is why that will be both our first anniversary…and your birthday, sweet one. _

Sasha, half naked, stood there flexing her toes upwards in her sandals as she began to cry again. She looked down at herself and said, "Deke, I want you so bad right now. I know we can't now…but…later on…after I finish my work with the Tigers and with those kids…maybe we can be alone together?"

Sasha smiled as she wiped away her tears. Then, she broke contact with little Star and zipped her uniform blouse shut. She tucked it in as she left the aft observation deck and her thoughts.

**III. A GRIM VISIT**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**The Vicinity of **

**Asteroid Minerva Beta Number 506**

**Sunday, April 3, 2208**

**0842 Hours**

At the moment, the _Argo _was cruising in the Minerva Asteroid Belt after having just come out of warp over its ecleptic and cruising into its plane.

The mighty ship was heading for a large asteroid known as Minerva Beta 506. It had once been a good-sized hunk of the Tenth Planet, but now, it was just a massive planetoid that was about eighty kilometers long and maybe twenty kilometers high. It housed a small space dock for supply ships that came in and out transporting prisoners and supplies; it also had room for ore carriers who took out the ores and precious metals that the prisoners mined out of the object under hard labor as part of their punishment.

At the moment, Private Bryan Hartcliffe, former Black Tiger (who had not received much in the way of treatment for his injuries; they hadn't even given him ice) had been roughly stripped of his orange Star Force prison jumpsuit and everything else and then he had been roughly searched by a party of Space Marines and four guards who had boarded the _Argo _from the prison. After he was searched and beaten some more, Hartcliffe's head was shaved with a set of portable clippers and he was placed in a black and white striped jumpsuit that bore the Convict Number _**5932**_. For the next ten years or so of his life, Hartcliffe would mostly be referred to by his number.

Then, dressed in just his jumpsuit and a pair of cheap plastic flip-flops, he had his wrists and ankles manacled and he was dragged off the ship in chains, with two particularly strong guards pulling his chains as he was forced to walk down the foredeck.

"Let me the hell GO!" he yelled. "I promise I'll be good! I mean it! Take me back to friggin' Earth!" he yelled.

"Shut up," yelled one of the guards who was hustling him along.

Up in the bridge tower, Commodore Wildstar, Hardy, Nova and Dawn had taken a few minutes to watch after hearing his yells. They stood on an open platform near a gun emplacement as Hartcliffe's cursing could be heard all throughout the docking bay. "I've been _robbed!_ I didn' do that much to me wife! I mean it! Look, I'm getting' religion now…TAKE ME HOME, DAMNIT!"

He was pulled down hard on his chain and a guard kicked him when he hit the deck. "Get UP, you piece of crap! You're off this ship, and they DON'T want you back!"

"Amen to that," said Jefferson Hardy as he turned to his young wife, Dawn, who looked semi-happy for once as she rubbed her pregnant stomach. "Dawn, what'cha thinking of?"

"Thank heavens we're almost at our first anniversary, Jeff," she said happily. "I never want _us_ to end up like that…no matter how much we fight…"

"I've heard his former wife Angie is engaged to his cousin Clive, who's a good man," Nova said.

Down below, Hartcliffe howled as he grabbed onto the rail at the gangplank. "Let me stay on this ship! I'll do anythin'! ANYTHIN'!"

"Read the notice over there on the bulkhead, shit-for-brains!" yelled a guard in his ear.

It read in large letters: **ATTENTION: PRISONERS. YOU ARE NOW AN INMATE OF THE MINERVA BETA 506 DEEP SPACE PENITENTARY. ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE! THE MISSION OF THIS PLACE IS NOT REHABILITATION: IT IS PUNISHMENT! OBEY ALL REGULATIONS!**

"Finish it yet?" yelled the guard.

Hartcliffe shook his head.

Then, they slapped his face and a guard brought a baton down…hard…on his fingers. As he howled, he was half-dragged, half-carried down the _Argo's_ gangway just as the ship's departure sirens began to go off. The Marines nodded at and saluted the prison guards as they left the gangplank and dragged Hartcliffe down the metal deck and rampways.

"Okay, that's enough…good riddance to bad rubbish," said Commodore Wildstar. "Let's get going; next stop…Pluto!"

The _Argo_ had been in the asteroid for about fifteen minutes. Hartcliffe was dragged through several sets of airlock doors, and down a corridor past a sign that read _**CREMATORIUM**_. "What's that?" he yelled.

"Where the hell you're ending up if you don't _frackin'_ behave!" yelled a guard as Bryan's face was smashed against a bulkhead. "Do you think any damn soul cares that you're alive any more? Your soon-to-be former wife signed an order refusing any letters from you in the future. You will know nothing more of your son, either. The only time your ex-wife will hear anything from us again is if you die before your divorce goes through! Work your ass off, and maybe we'll let you live and leave this place someday to be transported to a farm on Barnard's Star where you'll get forty acres and a tractor. _Maybe_. If not, you'll end up dead. The prisoners will probably do it, too. They don't like assholes like _you who beat up on pregnant women_!"

Hartcliffe looked through a techtite window as the _Argo's_ engines and thrusters went off down below in the dock. The _Argo_ rose above the dock, and then, she slowly and majestically blasted off through the huge doors into open space. As soon as she cleared the outer doors, they began to hiss shut, closing in the last view of open space and freedom that Bryan Hartcliffe would ever see again as a living man for the rest of his life, as it turned out. They slammed shut with a deep slam that was felt rather than heard.

The guards let him look for a moment, and then they kicked him to the deck again and dragged him off to be processed into prison society as he screamed and cursed.

About an hour later, Hartcliffe was shoved into a vast space that looked like a rough cave illuminated by high lights up in the overhead. Some sort of rock or ore was being mined from the surface of the cave by a large group of men in prison uniforms like his…all of them being closely guarded by guards with huge AK-01 blaster rifles. They also carried nightsticks and Tasers.

Hartcliffe said, as he was shoved towards a group of men, "Don't I get nothin' to eat? It's Easter, man! Don't we get the day _off_?"

"They told us you don't celebrate any holidays," sneered a guard. "Guess what; no one here ever does, so you're in good company, 5932! Kneel down there! NOW!"

Bryan did so, kneeling at the edge of a cleft in the rock filled with dust. "What do I do?"

"This is the leftover shit from the laser drill crew!" barked a large African-American prisoner with the number 4219, who was one of the trustees assisting the guards. "You ain't trained for nothin' yet, Bubba, so you is goin' on your hands and knees and you are pickin' up that dust and putting it in that box! Don't spill much! That's Iridiumite, and it's valuable. Do this for the next few hours straight! That is your JOB, _mo'fugger!_ Got it?"

Bryan looked around at the ring of guards and hardened veteran convict laborers surrounding him. With tears in his eyes, and his rebellious spirit finally starting to break, he got down on his hands and knees and began digging in the dust. He picked some up and he put it in the box. "That good enough?" he yelled.

A guard kicked him in the kidneys. "Hell no! Pick it ALL up! _All_ of it!"

"How?" said Hartcliffe.

"WITH YOUR HANDS, ASSHOLE!" yelled another guard as he smashed Bryan in the throat with his baton as the others laughed together. "And by the way, Happy Easter, you _douchebag_!"

In the meantime, the _Argo_ warped onwards, emerging from warp at 0900 near Pluto.

In that area, Commodore Wildstar was trying to relax in his cabin with a glass of chocolate milk when a tap came at the door.

"_Enter_!" he said.

Nova came in, carrying Mimi in her arms. The nine-year old tiger cat mewed and tried to paw Derek. "_Awww_…hi, Mimi!" said Derek as he played with her nose and watched her pawing at his finger to try and catch it. "Where's the little ones, Nova?"

"Sleeping," she replied. "So I brought Mimi up here to distract you slightly. I know we haven't had a good few days, but it's Easter. We're having Mass down below on the starboard observation deck in half an hour with the Padre and a party later today. Like to hold Mimi while I change? The Padre asked if I could play the new keyboards today; they don't have anyone else who plays the keyboard."

"Okay," said Derek. Nova was talking a mile a minute as was sometimes her wont when she got somewhat excited.

Nova took a garment bag out of her side of the locker. "I packed two dresses for today because I didn't know what our itinerary was after Mass. Are we going right to Pluto Base afterwards or staying on the ship for the buffet that I'm having McClendon and Lexington assist me with? If we stay on the ship, I can put on the spring dress and the red heels that go with them; if…"

"We're going to Pluto. I have to get these test results to these officers when we get done with services, Nova," said Derek.

"Okay, I'll put on the winter outfit I packed. You'll still like it," said Nova as she took off her gunbelt and boots. Then, she slid out of her uniform and opened the garment bag. Derek looked up from playing with Mimi to look up at Nova in nothing but her skin. Nova said, "What are you looking at?"

"Now I see why parts of your body….were so….uh…prominent earlier…"

"Won't be for long," said Nova as she pulled on a set of dark underall-style pantyhose that contained underwear and then slid into a bra. Then, she pulled on a pale pink cable-knit sweater her mother had made her and then put on a plaid miniskirt, finishing up with dark brown boots. "How do you like this?" she said as she twirled on her toes so that her skirt and hair flew around for a minute.

"Nice, you actually look female," Derek said with a smirk as Nova gave him a slight playful slap. Then, he yelped as Mimi bit his finger while playing with her.

"That's right, Mimi, _get_ him for that crack!" giggled Nova as she picked up the little cat. "Still sprightly for your age, huh?" she said as she let Mimi nuzzle her chin. "And you're purring."

"She always liked you better anyway," said Derek.

"Too bad Fluffy's at my parents more than she's at our place," Nova said.

"Oh, I miss Fluffy's claws digging into my back when we try to make love," said Derek.

"Fluffy's still growing out of babyhood, at least mentally," said Nova. "Even though she's now…five…going on six…"

"Let's get going before they start services without us," said Derek.

"Good idea," Nova replied.

On the _Argo_, the starboard side observation deck was where church was set up. The arrangement was austere and simple but tasteful. A large number of folding chairs were set out near a small dais, on which was set a table draped with a beatiful white cloth with the _Chi Ro_ emblem that served as the altar. Electric candles were set up on the altar. To the altar's left sat a small portable Catholic-style tabernacle that held the Host, while to the altar's right sat a lectern, draped with a cloth with a cross on it, from where the Chaplain and his assistants would read the Scriptural readings and give the homily. Some flowers were set up behind the altar in ornamental vases on stands.

Not far away sat a portable keyboard. Nova sat behind that with the hymn music prepared by the priest. On this voyage, the Chaplain was a member of the Living Group and young priest known as Lieutenant Thomas Connally.

A goodly portion of the Star Force was gathered here. Many of the crew members were either Catholic or belonged to the various denominations now in amicable communion with the ancient faith in the 23rd Century; namely, some members of the crew were also Anglican, Lutheran, Community Church, or Neo-Baptist; all Protestant denominations now in friendly concord with Rome, as was the Greek Orthodox Church. Members of other Christian denominations and other faiths such as Judaism, Islam, Shinto, and Buddhism also came here today to either quietly join in prayer or meditation or just to enjoy the service.

Near the hatchway, a Space Marine nodded once. Nova then began to play Bach's _Little Fugue in G_ on the organ setting of her keyboard as the processional music as the doors whizzed open, the crew stood, and a young enlisted man from Living Group came in carrying a cross, followed by a young woman who would be the altar girl. Both of them had on white vestments over their uniforms, and they were followed by Father Connally, who wore a white robe and white stole over his uniform; the traditional colors of Easter.

As the altar servers blessed the altar with incense and set up the Missal for the Chaplain for Mass, the Chaplain knelt, kissed the altar and stood. Then, he began by reciting, "_The LORD be with you_."

"_And also with you_," responded the congregation as the service and prayers began. The first reading was from Acts, Chapter 10:34-37. Paul Rosstowski got up to give that reading, speaking slowly and calmly as he read the ancient words referring to the Resurrection of the Christ beginning with: _Then Peter, opening his mouth, said: You know the word which hath been published through all Judea: for it began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus, of Nazareth: how God anointed him with the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about doing good..._

Commodore Wildstar put his head back as he sat down, smiling slightly as he let the reading take him back in time to ancient Judea, thinking, _Even though they were under the oppression of the Roman Empire, right now, given what I have to worry about, a trip to the Holy Land sounds better than what I have to deal with on this command at the moment. Nova's been talking about wanting to go to Jerusalem sometime…maybe I'll see if we can get a week off and go there…. _

A Responsorial Psalm (part of Psalm 117) followed, and then Nova left the organ to get up and read the second reading, from Colossians 3:1-4, reading calmly in her clear voice as she began with: "_Therefore, if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above: where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on the Earth…._"

From there, the Chaplain went on with a reading from the Gospel of Luke, recounting the story of how two of the disciples had met the Risen Saviour on the Road to Emmaus, but they didn't recognize that it was He until He prayed and broke bread with them and vanished.

Then, the sermon began; Father Connally spoke about how their mission was important to the people of Earth, and not to lose heart, for, as he said, "We, the People of God, no matter what we call Him, have been through many trials and tribulations together over the centuries, and especially in the past few decades, as we have all experienced losses and joys, victories and defeats, that I need not recount here. In our wars, in our pain, in our suffering, it is possible that there is a redemptive purpose being served. Consider these events. Mankind was in danger, and we met our enemies, but instead of completely destroying them, we eventually began to befriend our former enemies and to even draw those scattered brethern of ours towards light, hope, and peace. The Risen One commanded us before He left us to ascend to the Right Hand of the Father, where He waits until He brings this play called Mortal History to an end, that we were to spread His Teachings beyond our own Jerusalem, to Judea, Samaria, and even the farthest ends of the Earth. Is it not possible that, in His Wisdom, He hopes that we will, by our words, by our actions, by our deeds, by our example, spread the good news of love, peace, co-existence, tolerance, and redemption beyond the Earth to the farthest ends of the Cosmos? Perhaps there is a design here that we cannot yet clearly see. I feel that the Great Architect of the Universe leaves _nothing_ to chance, and that we should not forget that even in this, our time of darkness, He is still with us. It is a miracle in the Resurrection that we see the Redemption promised to the believing good thief on the Cross and accomplished by Him on the dark day of Good Friday, and that in the darkest of times, life goes on and springs forth anew," He looked at Dawn, who sat near Hardy, and he said, "And we can see that even out of the suffering and death of the latest war, new life has resulted, and new life is about to emerge. Bearing and caring for that new life is a blessed and sacred duty, to be undertaken with joy and sacrifical love, and a mission that we, men and women, fathers and mothers alike, should undertake with reverence and calm. For that life we bear to the next generation did not simply begin with us…"

The sermon continued as Dawn thought, _Maybe I should take this more seriously. But does this sky pilot know what it's like to be pregnant?_

Later, after the Mass ended and Nova and Derek took Communion, they returned to the Captain's quarters to look over the latest messages before heading to Pluto. Derek sighed as he read one of the messages while Nova looked for her coat. "They're everywhere, Nova. I can't _believe _this!"

"Who's everywhere?"

"Danged reporters! Look at this. We have the new star, the new artificial sun, warming Pluto, vaporizing some of the ice, creating a thicker atmosphere, a breathable atmosphere, and warmer temperatures, if you call around Zero Degrees Centigrade, or the freezing point of water, warmer."

"It's balmy down there, Derek, compared to the minus four hundred degrees that it used to be. What's the matter?"

"We get a message from that General O'Malley from Special Services, right? He tells me there's reporters who have gotten to Pluto who are wandering around the new Pluto Hotel looking for any words they can get about us. He wants me to come down there, not in my Star Force uniform, but in standard duty blues and a Mark Five winter overcoat. Isn't that stupid? That's so we won't be recognized in our Star Force uniforms. What do you think of that, Nova?"

"Did he make it an order?" Nova said as she slipped into a vinyl civilian jacket that sort of matched her boots.

"Yeah…"

Nova then rooted in the locker and handed Derek some clothes. "Get changed, sir. We have thirty-five minutes to make our appointment."

Derek rolled up his eyes and did as he was told.

After Wildstar changed and picked up a briefcase that had the data he had to report to O'Malley and Maples, he and Nova flew down to the surface of Pluto in a regular landing boat, with an uneventful arrival on some dark green tarmac that seemed to have been reclaimed from the old Gamilon Base that had once been here.

They were still somewhat floored at the idea of simply opening the hatch and stepping out onto the surface without spacesuits. Their first few breaths were a little tentative, but they soon found the thicker atmosphere to be quite breathable, if briskly cold.

An enlisted man in an open 2205 model Jeep in Naval Grey greeted them with a salute and drove them to the main square of the small city of Persephone that was forming around the Base Headquarters.

When they arrived on the new simulated brick square near the new Headquarters Building, Nova stopped and looked up in wonder as snow began to fall in the breeze.

"_Look_, Derek!" she said in awe as she caught some snow on her bare hands. "It's regular water-ice based snow! Isn't it _beautiful_?"

Derek looked up from under the brim of his Captain's cap and said, "It's reminiscent of what we saw that time on Mars when we landed there on our first mission. You're sure it's water-based?"

"Catch some on your tongue, silly," said Nova as she stuck out her tongue to catch some snowflakes.

Commodore Wildstar caught some of the snow and looked at it. "Yeah, it's snow…." he said. He looked over at an icy ornamental pond and said, "Nova, next thing I know, you'll be telling me you wish you had ice skates to go skating on that pond?" Derek smiled to himself as he recalled that Nova had a nice pair of white ice skates at home, which she liked to wear with a white outfit when she practiced her figure skating.

"Sort of," Nova said with a rueful smile that went sad as she said, "It reminds me a bit of the old skating pond at Rockefeller Center in New York; before the Gamilons and then later the Cometines got to it. My Dad took me there once on a trip of his when I was young. It was around Christmas, and he surprised me with ice skates."

"Did you know how to skate?" Derek asked.

"Sort of," laughed Nova. "I was five going on six then and I kept on falling on my butt and crying until Dad gave me a few pointers. We'd better get going before we get that General mad at us. I know that your rank hath priveleges, sir, but that O'Malley's a two-star General who outranks you, and, besides, both of those guys are too close to General Stone and his bunch for my comfort. I assisted O'Malley at Headquarters once briefly when you were on your one-year patrol back in 2201, and I didn't like him much then when he had just _one _star as a Brigadier. You know they could hold up your getting a Rear Admiral's star someday if you tick them off, or they could mess my career up out of sheer sexist spite."

Derek nodded and said, "Yeah…let's go…"

He and Nova regretfully left the wonderous new snow of Pluto alone as they walked across the square to the Headquarters Building and entered, glancing up at the "sun" and still not believing that the very bright orb above them in the sky near the smaller and dimmer but still shining light of the distant star called their Sun used to be the _Eritz Gatlantis_.

"Here, have a cigar, Commodore" said Lieutenant General O'Malley, sporting his two stars to Derek's one star, in his Intelligence Office as he laughed hard and shook Derek Wildstar's hand after they saluted before they sat down. He returned Nova's salute, but barely acknowledged her presence otherwise as he opened the humidor on his desk. "It's a real Goddamn honest-to-God Cuban. Thank Heavens the Castro family is long dead so we can get these."

"Thank you, sir, but I don't smoke," said Derek with a rueful grin. If Nova wouldn't have been there, he might have been tempted, but he knew all too well what her attitude was on tobacco. The few Cubans he had smoked (not that he did so very often; he wasn't a habitual smoker) were smokes he had partaken of on the sly in the Officers' Club with brandy on nights when Nova hadn't been around.

"Want some brandy, then?" said O'Malley with a grin as Maples looked at Nova in a way that made her _very_ uncomfortable.

"I'll take a little," said Derek as O'Malley poured some brandy from a cruse into four snifters. When he offered a snifter to Nova, she nodded politely and said, "Thank you, sir, but I'll take no more than a single sip."

"Why not?" he said as Nova took one sip and set down the glass.

"I'm nursing two children," Nova said politely. "Because this was a short mission, they're with us on the ship."

Derek opened his briefcase and handed both of the Intelligence men copies of a report he had made up about the _Argo's_ performance in the refit, including her performance in battle against the Spectran ship, and what had happened when the uprated wave motion gun had been fired at Mikanus VIII. O'Malley nodded with a grunt and read his report over. "Good equations here, Mrs. Wildstar."

"Thank you, sir," Nova said.

O'Malley read more, looked at Maples, and nodded. "We're going to study everything you gave given us about this new enemy, and will contact you if we need any further clarification. Please send us the rest of the report promptly, Commodore."

Derek nodded as O'Malley poured Nova a glass of sparkiing water. When he handed her the ice-filled glass (which she accepted gratefully) he then said, "Mrs. Wildstar, on to, if I may, some more informal matters before I dismiss both of you. Your children…how old are they?" he asked as Maples continued to grin at her in a way she did not like.

"Seven months old," said Nova.

"With all respect, Lieutenant Commander," said O'Malley as he scratched his black beard, "shouldn't you be home in your living room playing with them on the floor on a blanket as your husband goes out and earns the bacon? I mean, you do great work…there is no doubt in my mind you are a capable officer, but Earth needs children and you are a mother. Aren't there some proprieties to be followed here?"

"With all respect, sir, I have a career as well as three lovely children; two of them being the issue of my body and one being adopted. Sir, I'm very experienced in Survey, Analysis, and sensor functions and I wanted to be aboard to test some of the new software I wrote for the uprated Cosmo-Radar equipment on the _Argo _as well as to test the new medical equipment we installed in Sickbay, which I also helped to design. I think I'm fully qualified, sir. Especially since I will be starting Medical School in September. Our ship's surgeon has been talking about either retiring or cutting back his schedule in the next few years, so we all thought it would be logical for me to step into his shoes as the _Argo's_ ship's surgeon in a few years after I complete school and my internship and residencies," Nova said. "For me, motherhood and my career go together, and the Commodore has been wonderful as a father and helper in their care. He adores our children as much as I do," Nova said, smiling at her husband with love and pride.

"You know a medical internship is supposed to be hell," said O'Malley. "You'll barely be home then, barely get any sleep…"

"I'm familiar with that," Nova said calmly. "After all, I was on the first mission to Iscandar. I've pulled a few all-nighters with injured already." _Probably far more than you have_, Nova thought disdainfully. Nova added, "When that time comes, the Commodore is more than ready to help as the children's other caregiver. After all, it takes _two_ to be parents in a normal marriage, and Derek's been a very good father."

O'Malley nodded. "Let's get back to the test results, Commodore."

"Gladly," said Derek.

Maples read his report, and he said, "You destroyed it, sir?"

"We didn't intend to do so, but it appears we did," said Derek.

Maples nodded his head, and Nova's heart went cold when she heard him whispering, "Congratulations. Now you can destroy entire worlds with this power; and wipe out whole civilizations in an instant. It may serve Earth someday if you have this power to deal with your rivals…with the absolute iron fist that some of these aliens deserve. Such as this Spectra band."

Derek looked at Maples and then an O'Malley, and said, "Gentlemen, what happened at Gamilon notwithstanding, our mission is not to slaughter people; it is to protect the peace against those who would slaughter us."

Nova added, "Besides, those _aliens _are intelligent beings with souls and eternal destinies just like ours."

"How do we know that?" whispered Maples, as within him, the Dark Lord Ekogaru smiled at the man's coldness and lack of compassion. _You are so hateful, Maples,_ the Dark One thought in his head. _That is such a boon to Me and my Cause._

"_Enough_, Major!" barked O'Malley. "Commodore, we thank you for bringing this information to us. Lieutenant Commander, I even thank _you_ for clarifying matters in terms of how you intend to use the new power you have been given. I'm sure both of you are morally straight, upright, reverent, and clean," he said. "I'm sorry…I have things to do. Both of you are dismissed."

Derek and Nova stood, saluted, and waited as the other two officers returned their salutes. Then, they left.

On their way back to the _Argo_ (after dodging a bunch of reporters on Pluto) Derek commented, "Nova, those men were horrible. I think that Major Maples was leering at your legs. And General O'Malley was just…"

"Unfortunately, there are men like them all over the place," Nova sighed. "I met O'Malley's wife Lola at a party once, too, when you were away on a patrol. It was one of those parties I _had_ to go to as a member of the Star Force….under orders back in 2200. It was the one after you left, where Mark escorted me. She is not a nice woman. She's condescending, just like him."

"I hope they don't expect us to just threaten people with our power for no good reason," Derek said after a long silence. "Nova, I hope we're not becoming like the Gamilons, the R'Khells, or any of our other former enemies."

"I could never abide that," Nova said. "I'd resign first. Derek, is that a ridiculous idea?"

Derek stroked her hand and said, "No, Nova. Thank God, you have a keen conscience and a good, good heart." He looked at her and said, "I don't know what I'd ever do without you. Captain Avatar gave me his courage, Mark Venture and my brother Alex gave me and still give me a will to fight on and never give up, and Sandor gives me an analytical, keen mind. You and Doctor Sane give me a heart and plain old common sense."

"Thank you," said Nova softly. They smiled at each other and then flew back to their vessel in silence.

**IV. A SWEET INTERLUDE**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**The Pluto Region**

**Sunday, April 3, 2208**

**1530 Hours Local Time**

"I'm not sure what to make of this, Diane," said Sandor, who looked nervous as he walked towards Sickbay holding her hand. "I mean, I was pretty dumb last night when I barged in on Nova and Derek."

"What did you two talk about when you say you made up a few hours later?" said Diane.

"Well, she told me she was sorry that she tactlessly said something about 'when we have kids', which didn't even hit me until later because of that battle we had. Then, she said she might be able to do something about it, and that everything I've been through should not keep us from having children and a normal life. What she is getting about, I don't know. She knows perfectly well that everything I have that physically makes me a man…looks normal, but is, shall we say, only good for firing practice rounds?" Sandor chuckled grimly at that. "But she said that she wanted to take care of that, beginning today…"

"I know….," Diane said. "She talked to me about it, too, and then asked if I'd like to see her give the babies a bath…maybe help out…and I said _sure!"_

"Diane?" said Sandor.

"I had siblings during the Gamilon War and now and then helped my Mom with them. Guess helping Nova's not that much different."

Finally, they entered Sickbay and went off to one of the side rooms off the main examining/operating theatre. That huge round room, where critical operations were done and enemy prisoners were examined, usually drew a crowd of a few…or more than a few morbid (or curious) members of the crew who looked through the observation windows when major procedures were going on in there. Nova had been grateful that her delivery had taken place in a shuttle rather than in that big room, because she knew the crew _would_ have been curious about the birth and given how hot she had been, they would have _all _seen her giving birth to Alex and Ariel in the nude in a public shipboard spectacle that would have been a Big Event. Nova had no idea why they had never put privacy curtains on those operating theatre windows: if Sane wasn't going to do it, then it was something _she_ was going to order done when _she_ became Ship's Doctor. Thus, she had chosen this quieter examining room, usually unused, except in case of emergency, as her care area for Alex and Ariel, both because it was quiet and afforded some needed privacy.

When there, they both smiled as Nova sat on an examining table on a huge towel while Derek was putting warm water into a basin with the sleeves of his EDF blues rolled up. Nova was getting little Ariel out of her one-piece baby jumpsuit as she shrugged off her own overcoat.

"Hi!" Nova said. "We were expecting you two," she said as she pulled Alex onto her lap and began to undress him as she undid something on her plaid miniskirt. Ariel grabbed at her sweater-clad upper body, and Nova giggled and said, "I know what you want, little Princess! They're coming out in a moment…"

"So, you're…?," said Sandor.

Diane rolled up her own sleeves and said, "Steve, it looks like she's going to feed them and give them their bath in her lap at the same time like at a family hot spring! How _cute_!" Diane then turned to her former boyfriend Derek and said, "Is that water ready?"

"Uh-huh…"

"Let me bring it to her…"

Diane did so as Nova began to struggle out of her sweater. Derek came over and gallantly helped,pull it off over Nova's head and then helped her with her bra. A moment later, the young mother was topless, offering a breast as she got Ariel out of her diaper while unfolding her wrap-around skirt. Derek quickly helped her take off her boots, and the last thing to come off happened to be her dark pantyhose, which included her underwear. As soon as Nova ended up suitably stripped down for her bathing and nursing duty, she got Ariel up into her lap and began washing her just as if she was preparing to take a bath with the babies at home or at a family _onsen_ (which she had done quite a few times; there was a very nice hot spring place near a Shinto shrine not far from her home in the Megalopolis) Diane got the baby out of her diaper. In the meantime, Derek finished undressing his little son and tenderly placed Alex against Nova's other breast. With a sweet expression on her face, as Diane took away both her clothes and the babies' clothes, she began to wash and feed her son as Derek sat beside her on the examining table for a bit, stroking the babies' faces and then gently stroking Nova's hair for a moment as he gave her a hug. Nova kissed him back, as she whispered in his ear, "Derek, honey…remember…we have an _audience…_"

"Oh," said Derek as he blushed. He kissed Nova and respectfully slid down the table a bit, keeping intense eye contact with his young wife as he helped her with their children. They both knew that if they had been alone, Nova might have been in Derek's lap by now. That was something Nova normally did not mind…when she wasn't being watched by other human eyes, that is.

"He's getting bigger," Steve said.

"I know," Nova said with pride. "Aren't he and his sister beautiful?" Ariel whimpered a little as her mother washed her hair. "It'll be done soon," she cooed as Sandor ran to the sink and got a fresh washcloth, which he handed to Derek, and then Derek handed to Nova. Nova cleaned her little daughter's face and hair in a rinse, and then washed her back and little bottom, smiling as Ariel pulled herself off her breast. Nova burped her and let her crawl off as she tried to wash her little feet. A moment later, she smiled at Alex, who was still hungry, his little bottom nestled in her hand as he squiggled his leg down, exposing his little boyhood as Nova said, "Want that washed, Alex..I?"

Then, a moment later, Alex gurgled as Ariel popped her head around to watch what was happening. There came a little hissing sound, and Nova began to blush a little as Alexander gave _her _a fresh little shower of baby wee! Everyone (Nova included) laughed as Ariel began to scream, "Weewee! Weewee! _Weewee! Weewee_!"

"That's right," Nova cooed while giggling. "Your brother just went weewee! He went _weewee_!"

Nova then looked down at herself as a few streams of baby wee ran down her bare arm, down her crotch, and down her leg. "Diane…now you see just one big reason I like to get out of all _my_ clothes too when it's their bathtime. This is easier to deal with when the only thing that has to be washed…is uhhh…your own skin.." she said as Derek came up, kissed her, and then began to help wash both her and little Alex clean. Diane helped as Steve handed her some more washcloths. Nova then dried Alex off and smiled as Derek offered a diaper. Nova was clothing him in a diaper as Sandor asked, "Nova, this idea you suggested to make it possible for me to have children…how hard would it be?"

"It would take time," Nova said as Ariel took her breast again while Derek kissed both his daughter and his young wife. "The worst would be the waiting while the artificial stem cells have their DNA sequence manipulated so that we encode them to produce…uhh…." Nova fumbled for a delicate way to put it until she noticed she hadn't closed up Alex's diaper yet, so she folded it back down, and got Alex to lay back in her lap as she gently lifted Alex's little penis up as he giggled and she said, "a set of…_these_.." as she gently pointed to his testicles, relieved that her naked baby boy made a good visual aid for what she wanted to state to Sandor quite delicately with Diane present.

"They might be able to fix you up? Amazing," said Diane. "Of course, I'd marry you, anyway…even if they couldn't."

Sandor smiled from ear to ear, glad that Diane had relieved his fears by telling him that so openly.

"I hope he doesn't decide to go wee again," Derek said.

"He can _do_ that?" said Sandor with a chuckle.

Nova nodded. "One time, he got me three times in a row. _Then_, he pooped on me for a follow-up!"

They all laughed as Nova closed Alex's diaper and pulled a fresh Onesie on him (it was in white and had a little Star Force combat pattern on it). Then, as Nova began to dry and dress Ariel who gurgled for "_milkie_!" as Nova again let her take a breast, Sandor then said, "So when can this process begin?"

"Today," Nova answered. "Why don't you and Diane wait out there in the other compartment while Derek and I finish up? He has to dry…uh…_me_ off next.." Nova said, blushing as Derek kissed her on the forehead. "We usually like to be all alone for this part…" Nova said as she stroked Derek's hand.

"Yeah…we'd better go for a bit," said Diane. "See you later, Nova…Captain…" said Diane as she winked at the young parents.

At that, she led Steve out of there very quickly by the hand, getting just a glimpse of Nova going into her husband's lap…and getting a glimpse of them kissing as the hatch hissed shut. Diane felt an irrational surge of long-suppressed jealousy as she realized that her ex-boyfriend and Nova were both lovers as well as parents. In fact, she realized, _Well, that's how they got to be parents! He got her nice and pregnant first! And it sure looks like it was not by Immaculate Conception!_

Diane then remembered her situation and almost leered at Steve. "I bet you'll like that…"

"Like what?" said Sandor, clueless to what was on Diane's mind.

"Making nookie.." she said as she kissed him.

Steve just blushed.

Derek called them back in about twenty minutes later, when he said, "Okay, the kids are taking a nap and Nova's dressed again…." Then, he heard a whimper and said, "OK..Alexander just woke up. Let me check on him…"

They came in to find Nova sitting in a chair, clad in her nurse's tunic and a pair of white sandals. Derek was nearby combing his hair and smiling at his sleeping daughter while dangling a toy plane above Alex's face, and watching as he grabbed at it. She was fussing with a medical instrument and what looked like a paper Operating Room shoe cover until she noticed the hatch whizzing open. Then, she put everything down and said, "I'd like to begin the process on Sandor by beginning to culture some skin cells. The best site, Steve, would be on your upper arm above the cybernetics. Diane, would you mind helping him out of his shirt?"

"So what will you be doing?" said Sandor.

Nova steepled her hands together as she said, "I'm going to begin with a very minor operation. I'm going to inject a local anesthetic in your upper arm, and then I'm going to take a small core of cells from your arm, about down to the lower epidermal layers. Then, I'll close the site with a bandage and take the cells and begin to grow them in a culture for a few days. Doctor Sane and I will begin maniuplating the DNA matrix of some of the cells when we get back home on Earth and we will then begin a second and third culture that should form the differentiated organ structure within a few weeks or months. When we have everything grown to a sufficient degree," Nova said as she swung her long legs around a little nervously and then pulled down her short minidress a bit more as she realized that the darn thing was hiking up and showing her underwear, "we'll call you back in for a consult and schedule an operation for you, and hope that the autotransplants take successfully. This is experimental, but I predict we may have results by the late summer or early fall. Any questions?"

"Will the transplant be painful for him?" said Diane.

"Not much worse than a transplant of say, another small cybernetic part like an eye or some such," Nova said.

"Pain doesn't bother me much," Steve said. "Nova, you know that, based on the adjustments that you've had to do with my cybernetics…"

"I know," Nova said as Derek looked at her. "We have to be terrible with you at times when we adjust the nerve receptor terminals so we have better contact with the cybernetics…"

"That sounds _awful!"_ said Derek. "Sandor, I've known about the arms and legs for years," he said, remembering the time in the Gamilon Magnetron Fortress when he had to take his bionic arms and legs off of him. "But…I never knew it was that painful for you at times."

"Yeah?" laughed Sandor. "Remember when they shot that leg off me when we invaded the first Comet Empire base ship with Knox? _That_ hurt! But Nova and Doctor Sane know I'm a very tough cookie when it comes to these things."

Diane then said, "Excuse me for asking, but, Nova…how…and where exactly do his implants…?"

"Steve, may I let her know?" Nova asked.

"Sure. You're going to have a good view of the arms in about a minute anyway," he said.

Nova nodded and rolled up a sleeve of her tunic, thinking, _I wish this would have come up when I still had all my clothes off before!_ Nova pointed at a point along her slender bicep and said, "The seam for the arms is about here, at this spot." Nova rolled down her sleeve and stretched out one of her bare legs as she said, "On his legs, it's about here on his upper thigh. If I was wearing a pair of old-fashioned stockings, this is about where the garter would go. I use this as a good reference point in my head for when we work on him."

"Yeah, you imagine me in stockings when you work on me; that's how you get your reference point…by imagining me done up like Doctor Scott," Steve teased back.

"I do _not_!" Nova said with a laugh. "I imagine _myself _in old-style stockings."

"I don't have to imagine _you_ in old-fashioned stockings…" teased Derek as he tickled Alex…his little bare foot had come up from his cover. "Like that kind you have in the upper dresser drawer at home…"

"Would the peanut gallery _please_ keep _quiet_?" Nova snapped as she tapped Derek on the nose. "Commodore, sir, just keep on playing with Alex or something if you're so full of energy! This is _serious!_ Steve, please sit on that stool and get ready. This should only take a few minutes."

Sandor opened his Star Force top as Diane wondered exactly_ what_ his bionic replacements looked like, as she had never before seen him with bare arms before. He felt nervous, overhearing Derek in the background making zooming and rat-a-tat-tat-ta noises as he "attacked" his baby son with the toy Superstar fighter he was dangling above his head; a nice replica of the real thing that was assigned to him down in one of the flight bays. Then, he sat on a stool after sliding out of his shirt while Nova pulled on her paper cloth booties over her sandals, watching her as she went to a sink to wash her hands.

Diane looked at Sandor's strong upper body; he looked quite muscular. She felt the skin of his arm above his wrist, surprised to find that the syth-skin felt and looked natural and was even warm to the touch. "Hey, this looks good," she said. "And it feels good."

"They've improved them quite a bit over the years," Sandor said.

"Where does the natural arm end and the bionic one begin?" Diane asked while Nova dried her hands and put on a pair of surgical gloves.

"About here," said Nova as she came over and began to swab Sandor's upper arm with some cotton. "Now, there will be a pinch," she said quietly as she injected him with a nasty-looking needle as Doctor Sane came in. "That takes care of _that_," she said. "The site should be numb in maybe three minutes. Then, we can do the biopsy."

"What are you using for it, Nova?" said Doctor Sane.

"A Hampden Number 25 tip," said Nova. "We only need a small core for the job. Okay with you if I run the stitch?"

"I was expecting you would; you're good with this sort of thing," said Doctor Sane. "Now, Miss Henson, I'm a former veterinarian. Nova, on the other hand, is an artist with this sort of thing…I think you're going to make a better doctor than I am…."

"Stop it, please," Nova said as she blushed, and then laughed as Derek "attacked" her head with his toy plane. "My _God_, did you have too much sugar in your coffee before, Derek?" she teased.

"We're not on the bridge, so I'm trying to make you laugh a little," he said.

"How are the kids?" asked Sane as he looked at the babies.

"Fine…they were awful thirsty, though. I didn't expect that after all of the solids we gave them this morning," Nova said as Derek stepped back and turned serious again. She stepped back and felt Sandor's arm; Diane was surprised that she couldn't find the seam for the synth-skin. "Excuse me…uh…where's the seam?"

"Right here, where Nova is probing my arm," said Sandor.

"There?" said Diane. "I don't see anything," she said.

"You're not supposed to," said Sandor. "The synth-skin becomes thinner there, and the seam is hidden with some long-term makeup that can be worked in between the seam and the remaining arm. Nova showed me how to do it some years ago. If you know yourself well, you can spot the seam, but it's hard to do otherwise. I can shower, bathe, swim and even surf with the cybernetics on. No one who doesn't know me ever really notices," he said as he pulled his shirt part of the way back on. "Not that I go in for the beach that much. I have to put on a heavy sunscreen when I go so the tanning is not too noticeable, even though the synth-skin "tans" a little bit."

Nova looked at Sandor and asked, "Is it numb yet?"

He nodded.

"Okay, here we go," Nova said as she picked up a large, nasty-looking silver instrument that looked like a large syringe with some hoses and dials on it. She injected Sandor with the larger-bore needle, fiddled with some settings on it, and then hit a lever. There was a soft click and some indicator lights went green. Nova withdrew the instrument, wiping the needle off with some gauze that Diane noticed was bloody when she was done. Nova then opened up a suture kit and expertly ran a single stitch to make sure the wound closed. Finally, she applied a stick-on bandage to the spot and said, "We're done. Doctor, did you and Mister Hendricks want him for a bit?" Nova asked.

"Yes," said Sane as he pointed to himself and an orderly, as he motioned everyone out into the main operating/examining theatre of Sickbay. Sane then noticed another male medical tech coming up, and he said, "Mister Hayakawa, set up the scanning equipment."

"Yessir," said the Ensign.

"Nova, we need him now for his routine heart scans," said Doctor Sane as Hendricks prepared some equipment as IQ-9 came up. "You're done with him for the moment except for getting the culture ready. Check on the patient in 5-C when you get a chance, and take Mrs. Hardy in there with you," said Doctor Sane. "Then please do your rounds with the other patients; I need some vitals."

"Okay, I'll begin work on setting up the culture," Nova said as she motioned Derek and Diane Henson back into the side room as she took off her gloves and shoe covers, smiling at her children before sitting back down to work on the culture on the lab counter in the little side room.

"You think he'll be okay?" asked Diane.

"Well, you can either stand by him or check on him after Doctor Sane, Hendricks and Hayakawa check him out," Nova said.

"I think I'll check on him later," said Diane as Nova gave her a look of some concern. "No…nothing bad…I just have some Engineering reports to complete."

"I've got some stuff to do on the Bridge," said Commodore Wildstar. "Nova, dinner at eighteen hundred?"

"Sure," Nova said as she nodded at Derek while standing up and stretching her legs. Then, she said, "Derek, Diane, I'll see you both later."

Commodore Wildstar gave Nova a pat on the shoulder as she went back to work after he kissed his sleeping children in their little beds. "Good luck, Peppermint."

"Thanks," said Nova with a blush as her husband and the young woman left her to her lab work.

A moment later, Wildstar and Henson went out into the main examining room, where they said their goodbyes to Sandor while Hendricks stood there recording some data on his clipboard.

"I'll be done later, Wildstar," he said.

"You look all hooked up," said Derek. "You're gonna be all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Sandor. "Diane, see you later. I take it you're not sticking around?"

"Can't, unfortunately. I have some work to do in the engine room," she said. "We'll all meet up at eighteen hundred for dinner?" she asked Sandor, who looked a little embarrassed as Sane and the orderly had all sorts of things hooked up to his chest.

"Okay," said Sandor. Diane couldn't resist a final glance at him with his shirt open as she thought, _What was I ever missing? He's dishier than I thought! Wow!_

"Good luck," said Wildstar. "With everything."

"Thanks."

**V. THE BEGINNNING OF THE END…**

**Solitary Confinement Wing**

**Asteroid Minerva Beta Number 506**

**Sunday, April 3, 2208**

**1612 Hours**

"I didn't do NUTHIN!" yelled Hartcliffe as some guards dragged him down a corridor of the prison. "NOTHIN!"

"Shut up, we saw you fighting in the shower with Trustee Brown!" yelled one of them. "Trying to use a shank on a trustee is bad news here, 5932!"

"You know what the hell 'e just did to me? And what he woulda done again if I hadn't ripped tha' piece o' metal off the soap dish?" Bryan was still naked from the shower, and if one looked at his backside, it was easy to see the shame that Brown had wrought upon him. "Why didn't ya' let me cut 'is throat?"

"Congratulations, you abuser of women," said another guard. "Now you know what it's like to be on the other end of what you dish out!"

"I'm not…I'm…where are you taking me?" he yelled as he saw a guard opening a trap door at the end of the corridor, away from the normal solitary confinement cells.

"Cell 666," said a guard with an evil grin. "The Hole of the Hole. Congratulations, scumbag. You get to see this place before twenty-four hours have run out."

Hartcliffe had barely any time to figure out what was happening before he was thrown down the manhole that the trap door covered. Wherever it was, it was _dark_ down there. _Very_ dark.

Hartcliffe fell a short distance, with some ribs breaking as he painfully hit the dirt-covered rock floor of the cavern he had been thrown into. The guards were really being tough on him. Normally, prisoners were lowered down here on a rope. Then, the trap door slammed shut, and he heard locks clicking to.

"LET ME OUT!" he yelled. "Damnit, let me OUT!"

There was no answer in the darkness. None at all. Wherever it was, it stank in here.

As Hartcliffe's eyes adjusted to his dank surroundings, he noticed that a few of the rocks in this place had some natural luminescence, which provided the only light.

"All that's in 'ere is…a single tap….produces water," he said as he turned the faucet and drank some of the dank-tasting water, "…and a hole….must be the loo…well, gotta go…"

Bryan grunted as he urinated into the reeking hole. "Cold in 'ere…" he said. "I'm so 'ungry, too…they didn't give me nothin' to eat…"

Then, he recoiled as something ran across his hand. He noticed that it was a roach. There were quite a few of them.

Shrugging as he thought _Any food in a storm, mate…_he grabbed some roaches in his scratched, bleeding hands, and he _ate_ them. He found that they were crunchy. Nice and crunchy. One was still wiggling a little as he swallowed it.

Then, a glow appeared from nowhere as _something_ appeared in the dank little room beside him.

Hartcliffe noticed that it was a humanoid shape. The light cleared, and Bryan Hartcliffe found himself sitting next to Major Gary Maples of Intelligence.

Only, when he felt the infernal cold coming from Maples, he knew that it hadn't been the Major's idea to come and meet him here in the closest thing to Hell that he could think of. He looked into Maples' eyes and saw a weird green light in them, and saw a sickening rictus of a smile as a deep, mocking voice came from Maples and said, "Hello there, mate. Are we _slumming?_ Three guesses as to who I am, meathead!"

"Ekogaru," whispered Hartcliffe. "How'd you get down here past the guards?"

"You seem to forget I can be any_where_ I want and almost any_when_ I want," said the Dark Lord. "Now, I see you don't like it much down here, do you?"

"Hello no, man. I got nothin' to eat but roaches…and…"

"This ham sandwich?" said Ekogaru as he made a ham on rye sandwich appear in his hand. "It's yummy. It's good. You'll like it…"

Bryan reached for it, but Ekogaru snatched it away. "Uh-uh-uh-uh-_uh_.." said the Dark One as he took a bite of the sandwich and savored it. "You have to do something for me first before you get this delectable sandwich, Bryan. You'd sell your soul to me for a sandwich, _wouldn't_ you?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Bryan. "Please, man…I ain't even been here a day yet, and I'm goin' friggin' mad! They're all against me. What do I have to do? Sell my soul to ya, man? I'll do it…"

"Nice to know we are in agreement on that," said Ekogaru. The Dark One took a small vial of something out of his jacket pocket and thought, _This man's usefulness to me is at an end, but let me give him a share of release…before I throw him to my Master forever, as it has been decreed today is to be his last day alive…_ "You were useful to me, albeit in a small way. So I have a small gift for you before we part and I let you eat your sandwich. And you have to try this out for me. Since I know you have not only no money but not even a rag to cover your _cuyones_ with, this thirty thousand credit vial of uncut Rikashan Sixer is yours for no charge."

"Sixer?" said Hartcliffe, as he gasped as he realized the Dark One had just given him a hit of the rarest drug in the Galactic System. It was a mixture of pure heroin and Rikashan Spice made in a special retort in a lab. It was a potent, halluciogenic mixture that was also called "Dancing with the Devil." Its trade was very illict and very hidden. Because of its effects and the danger of the drug, mere possession of the stuff merited a life sentence, no quarter given, if one was caught in the Earth Federation with the stuff. Dealing it led to the death penalty, also no quarter given by the Court. There had been a notorious story on Earth in the past few months of an EDF officer named Lieutenant Hiroshi Shinabi from the space battleship _Malaysia_ who had been caught dealing the stuff, which had been strictly banned ever since 2204. As soon as his court-martial had ended, he had been allowed to say goodbye to his wife and child, and then was driven to an EDF prison on Earth, where he met the firing squad before sunset. By ten PM that night, his corpse had been reduced to ashes and thrown into the sea.

"Sixer," said Ekogaru. "No need to trouble yourself where I got it from. Will you test this bunch for me?"

"Hell, yes!" said Hartcliffe as he garbbed it from the Dark Lord. With trembling, frenzied hands, he tore open the vial and snorted up the whole dark, shiny powder in five breaths. Then, as he sat there with his world spinning in a not unpleasant manner, he said, "What a high, man! WHAT A _HIGH_!"

"Want your sandwich?" said Ekogaru.

Hartcliffe grabbed it and ate it as, with no further pain, he began to fly, fly, and _fly _within his addled brain. He didn't notice the intense chest pain that his battered body was trying to telegraph to him, nor did he fell his breathing slowing down to painful gasps.

"I thought you'd like that!" yelled Ekogaru. "EAT HEARTY, MY FRIEND!" Then, the Dark Lord laughed as he vanished, knowing that, in about a minute or two, Private Bryan Hartcliffe's last high would soon abruptly come to a crashing, sickening, final end….

As Bryan hungrily ate his sandwich and saw naked women dancing before him as they came out of the walls of the cave;, he laughed like mad as he ate his sandwich and waited for them to service him, damn the pain in his damaged crotch right now, damn…they looked like his former acquaintances…that lawyer from the Court, Sasha, that Dawn Hardy girl, Nova, the Commander's relative who was married to Homer….Starsha…

Then, the druggy visions of many of his female acquaintances naked faded away as color and light began to swirl around him like a pinwheel. He whooped and laughed, thinking he was experiencing the best space warp of his life. The colors were so cool. "_So cool, man…so cool…._" he said.

His last mortal sight was a weird vision of Angie appearing to him from the wall of the cave, naked except for her glasses and very high-heeled clear plastic sandals. She was carrying a bottle of Vodka and saying, "Drink with me, Bryan, luv. All is forgiven, and we will get drunk together at last and do the dirty, dirty, _dirty_ deed…and you can do to me whatever you want!" And she was dancing a lewd dance in her nakedness as she danced on her haunches and showing off her assets in a strippers' manner that Bryan loved. It never occurred to him that Angie had never danced for him like that, nor would any decent woman _ever _dance for him like that…especially the women in his twisted fantasy before.

"Yeah…babbbbbe," he muttered. "Do me, Angie…" he murmured, as the vision finally faded, and he found himself back in the Hole, in pain, in agony, barely able to breathe as something that felt like an elephant with spikes crushed his chest.

He fell down on the rock floor with a half-chewed bite of sandwich in his mouth, unable to move, unable to speak..unable to do anything except emit a weak cough and a death rattle as he realized what was happening to him at last. "no…" he muttered. "god…no…I…"

Then, he couldn't talk anymore as the cell spun around and the wierdest buzzing noise he had ever heard in his life resounded everywhere as something pulled him upwards like metal going to an electromagnet.

The cell spun, and Bryan felt surprise and terror as he was pulled up at high speed, and he saw his body lying there on the cell floor, with his mouth open and his crazed eyes already glazing slightly as Bryan realized that…

_This must be what it's like to die!_ Bryan thought as a frightening lucidity came to him just as his soul's connection with his drug-addled brain was severed like a circuit breaker going off. _But where am I goin'?_

The stars roared up to meet Hartcliffe as he passed up through the cell door and through the asteroid at a frighteningly high rate of speed.

Then, he blasted along as he roared through space and found the _Argo_ looming up to meet him.

**VI. A PULP NOIR STORY ENDS..…**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**Lower Flight Bay**

**Sunday, April 3, 2208**

**1656 Hours**

Bryan Hartcliffe's spirit, or what passed for one, suddenly fell into the _Argo_ through the deck and he found himself standing inside the ship, yelling, _**HEY! I'M HERE DON'T YOU SEE ME?**_

He seemed to be in the Lower Flight Bay. He stamped his foot and cursed, but he noticed no one responded. Jefferson Hardy had the Black Tigers gathered around him, sitting on the quiet flight deck in an informal meeting as he asked, "How are the squadrons doing?"

Deke Wakefield stood, saluted, and said, "Second Squadron is at full strength, sir. Lexington got his plane damaged in that battle along with Ono's, but they're fine and we just got their planes fixed. They're back on duty and were cleared by Doc Sane and Nova for further flying ops."

Sasha smiled at Deke as she sat near him with some of the other RSO's and Flight Maintenance Officers as Hardy said, "Marrable, how's Third doing?"

Brew stood up saluted, and said, "Well, we lost two planes, sir. The other pilots are fine, and we just came in from patrol. We can go out again if we have to…"

"That's good," said Hardy as Hartcliffe walked over to him and punched him in the chest as hard as he could, and was disconcerted to find his fist going right through him. _I'm here, but I'm not here_, he thought. "HELLO!" he yelled as he found his former comrades laughing at a joke of Brew's…and totally ignoring him.

"Would you cut out the butt jokes, Brew?" said Lieutenant Gabrielle "Bangs" Capistrano as she said, "As Fourth Squadron Leader, I'm ready to report."

"So am I!" yelled Hartcliffe. "I think I'm dead, man! Or this is one 'ell of a trip!" He tried to look at Sasha, but the glow coming from her and through her on the Other Side was so bright that it hurt his astral "eyes" to look for long.

No one heard him or felt anything, except Sasha, who shivered a little as she cuddled against her husband while Bangs went on with her report.

"What's wrong, Sasha?" asked Deke.

"There's a ghost in here. I _think_."

"A ghost?" said Wakefield in a whisper. "Okay, who?"

"It's very indistinct…it has nothing on, and the face is all blurred and beaten. I don't recognize him; but it sure isn't the Dark One, nor is it Captain Avatar or any of the others I sometimes see on this ship, like Orion, Sergeant Knox, or Sean Conroy. They have on their uniforms and their essences are intact….I even talked with Knox one night when you were asleep once. This thing's essence is fading, and it stinks like a hole in the ground. It…"

Then, Sasha heard an indistinct scream as the soul of Hartcliffe was pulled away as some Voice said to him, "_Speak to them again? NEVERMORE. Behold, you are __dead_."

"Sasha, why did you jump?" whispered Deke.

"Dekee..if that thing is a ghost…"

"Yes?"

"I don't want to know where it's going…that was a scream of the damned."

In their cabin, Nova Wildstar had changed back into her normal crew uniform and boots as she played with Ariel on her lap. She had finished giving her some baby food, and she wasn't interested in nursing (Nova had just closed up her uniform) but she took some water that Nova gave her in a bottle. She drank until she pushed away the bottle and began to cry.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Nova cooed as Hartcliffe's ghost was pulled into their cabin from through the deck.

"Shivery, Mama…" said Ariel.

"Oh, I know it gets cold up here sometimes, honey," said Nova as she covered her daughter's bare legs with a pink baby blanket as she lay in her mother's lap in a yellow and black Onesie that looked like her uniform. "What are you looking at?" Nova said as Ariel reached towards something.

"Hey_, kid_!" yelled Hartcliffe as he realized the baby was looking right at him. "Squeeze yer mum's boobie or somethin! Let her know I'm here! HEY!" he yelled.

"Yukkyman?" said Ariel.

"What's a yukkyman?" asked Nova.

"Mama, _yukkyman_!" said Ariel as she pointed at Bryan's ghost. Like most babies, Ariel maintained a heightened spiritual awareness of things and impressions that most adults could not see. Hartcliffe had become a weaker-than-usual human ghost with only a vague attachment to the _Argo_ since he had turned away from the Star Force's high ideals…if he had ever believed in them in the first place, that is.

Nova tried to figure out what Ariel was talking about, and she _almost_ saw something like a blur standing there, and she felt a weird, sickening feeling of loss coming from the area around it.

Nova reached for the phone to call Derek, but, before she could pick up the phone, in the Other World, Hartcliffe yelled, "_NOVA, I'M SORRY, YA DUMB BIRD! HELP ME! Pray for me! I need it!"_

He tried to grab Nova, seeing the soft light coming from her spirit on the Other Side that she was, of course, unaware of. There was a hint of something about her he could not figure out…something like a soft Fire burning at the depth of her being that looked utterly frightening to him, and for some reason, Nova, who seemed for a moment to be clad in white with a silver crown on her head, seemed scarier to him than what he could see in Sasha. He reached for her, and the Voice again spoke to him and said, "_NEVERMORE! She has a life in her that you cannot have, and, behold, she is sealed for My Purposes as is her Niece_. _You had an opportunity to become Like her but you refused it. Therefore_…"

Nova looked up, but the feeling and the weird blur were gone a moment later as she saw Ariel smiling and playing with her wedding band. "Shiny, isn't it? We'll see Daddy soon! Let's hope Daddy is good!" Nova said with a sweet smile.

The stars and Earth swirled around Hartcliffe's withered soul as he was dragged towards the Earth by a force that was horrid in its intensity.

Before he knew it, he fell through the roof of what had been the apartment he and Angie had shared in the Tokyo Megalopolis. Through the windows, he could see that the sun was setting, and that Angie was sitting in bed in a thin, near-transparent nightdress, reading a book as she cuddled in someone's arms.

He looked up, and was shocked to see that that Someone was his cousin Clive! Bryan watched in horrid fascination as Clive kissed her and turned down the covers, suddenly sitting up as he heard something. "Luv, it's Richie. Put down the book?"

Angie smiled at Clive through her glasses and kissed him as she set down her book. "Help me out of this?" she said as she took off her glasses. "It's hot in here…"

Clive kissed her and gently stripped Angie of her transparent nightdress, leaving her both naked…and _very _lovely. She now bore no signs of the ravages of her pregnancy, and, in fact, to Bryan, she looked foxier than she had before she was pregnant! "Angie!" yelled Bryan's ghost as she ignored him, unaware that anything or anyone was even there. "YOU DUMB BITCH! What are you doin' with him? He's just supposed to be helpin' ya! I'm yer husband! Don't ya dare divorce me!"

A moment later, Clive came in, carrying little Richie in his arms. He wore only a diaper as he was laid in his mother's arms. Angie kissed him and gave a breast. She had been taking a medication and her milk had recently come in at last, and she smiled at the sensation as her son basked in her nakedness, enjoying her love. Clive crawled back into bed with them and asked, "So you said the lawyer filed the last of the papers?"

Angie nodded. "In a few days, there should be an automatic decree, and Bryan will no longer be in my life. I asked them to block him from calling me, writing to me, or anything else, and I asked to be notified of his death, if that happens, would we be so lucky...only up until the time we get married, Clive. Because he's dead to me already, Clive."

"You don't mind I threw out 'is crap?" said Clive.

Angie shook her head. "Not at all. And the Court just awarded me all of the last of his back pay as restitution for what he did, so I'm not hurting for anything anymore now."

"HEY!" yelled Bryan's ghost. "I'M YER HUSBAND! I'M…!"

Then, he looked down as Angie, lovely in her nakedness, cuddled their beautiful son. Clive kissed the baby and smiled at him, and the young couple was shocked as baby Richie gurgled his first word as he looked right at Clive.

That word was, "_Dada_?"

"That's right, mate! I'm your daddy! I'm your daddy!" said Clive as he kissed his little son. The heart of Bryan's ghost broke as he bowed his head in the first bit of shame he had, thinking, _I wanted him to call me Daddy. He's my kid! That cousin of mine ain't yer daddy, Richie! He ain't…_

Richie looked up and began to cry as he looked right at his father's ghost for what would be the very last time Bryan would ever see his son. The baby saw an indistinct, frightening blur of a half-man as Bryan was pulled out the window….and dragged into the darkness of the night.

Then, that implacable Power grabbed Bryan's ghost by the feet….and pulled him, deep, deep, deep through the dirt of the flower bed.

Near-darkness surrounded Bryan as something kicked him around, and he realized he was being pulled through some kind of weird tunnel into the very depths of the Earth itself…or something that seemed like it to him. Then, there was nothing but darkness….darkness filled with a dim, flickering blue light edged with gold.

"What's that?" said Bryan as he roared down towards that light as if he was in a Tiger on a death dive.

"Your future…your ETERNITY," said the Voice one last time as Bryan flew towards the light and began to hear a dim roar.

Too late, he realized that this Light was not there to welcome him as the roar grew louder.

It was there to judge him, as he realized that what he was falling towards…was a lake.

A lake of blue flames. And it was all true!

"NOOOOO!" screamed Bryan as the flames consumed his withered, naked soul….and an eternity of memories, heartbreak, and pain would begin for him. Others were waiting for him there, and they would share in his horrible torment and pain as the first second of a long, eternal minute adding up to no passing hour began for him.

And it would never, _ever_ end.

A few hours later, in Beta Minerva 506, the guards and trustees pulled Bryan's body up out of cell 666 by a rope. The naked corpse was already stiffening, and flies were already lighting upon it.

"What is he?" said Trustee Anson Brown, Number 4219.

"Dead, what do ya think?" said a guard. "You've killed people, 4219. You know what dead people look like."

"Glad he's dead," said Brown as he kicked the corpse. "I wanted to initiate him into the Joint the usual way that scumbags like him get, and he tries fightin' me, Killer Brown, with a friggin' shank! Wonder how he died?"

"There's a vial in his hand," said another guard. "He got a ham sandwich in him down there. I don't know how. And I don't wanna know how," he said as he kicked the remains of Hartcliffe's last sandwich out of his hand. "Lookit his mouth. Looks like he was eatin' dirt and roaches! You know, that dirt we threw down there to soak up their messes when they miss the hole?"

"Simple, he was a roach, and he went out like a roach," said the guard. "Okay, let's get this stiff into the doctor's office so the doc can do an autopsy on him. Then, he'll go into the crematorium drawer, and he'll be ashes shot inta space by morning. No great loss."

The guards and trustees laughed as Bryan Hartcliffe's body was thrown onto a gurney, covered with a sheet, and hauled away like yesterday's garbage, unmourned, unremembered.

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**The Hartcliffes' Apartment**

**April 5, 2208**

**0125 Hours**

Angie Hartcliffe was awakened from a pleasant dream in Clive's arms by the sound of the phone going off. They were both naked now, as they had made love before going to sleep.

Making sure that the phone was set to voice-only, Angie answered it with, "Uh…hello? Who is callin' me at one in the morning?"

The voice was scratchy, as if it was coming from a long distance, but it was reconizable. "Angie?" said the female alto voice. "This is Nova. I'm Officer of the Deck on watch tonight. I'm sorry to trouble you, but we just got some news from Beta Minerva 506 that they asked us to relay to you for legal reasons."

"Yes?" said Angie as she suspected what had happened. "_Him._ He must be _dead_, right?"

"Right," said Nova. "We know the circumstances, and we know how sordid the story was, but you don't have to worry about the divorce anymore. You are now officially a widow, and I'm so sorry."

"I've been like a widow the past few months, Nova….no big loss. He began dying for me last year, and he died for me, I now realize, when he beat me on that shuttle when I was pregnant. So how did he go out? Did Bryan finally go out like he always threatened to by killing himself?"

"No," said Nova. "Drug overdose. He somehow found some Rikashan Sixer in solitary confinement and took enough to kill a bull elephant, they tell me. He was dead in a few minutes, and turning stiff and drawing flies when they found him. The body's already been cremated. They've e-mailed you the electronic Death Certificate with electronic seal. You can look at it at home but have to go to a Registry Office to get it." Nova went quiet and said, "Tell Clive I'm sorry to hear about this, but glad it's over and happy for you two. Do you have anything planned for you two?" Nova said delicately.

"We had plans," said Clive as he took the phone. "They'll be somewhat accelerated now." Then, he looked at Angie. "I know that this may be a bad time…and we talked about it…I again ask…will you marry…?"

"Yes," said Angie with a big smile before Clive could even finish.

Nova overheard and smiled a little. "Well…good luck, then. We'll talk when we get home. Take care, you two…"

"Thank you," said Angie. "Clive, just wanted to say it…your cousin Bryan's dead. And that is the last time I'll ever need to say his name again."

"Gussed that…" he said as he kissed Angie. "Where do ya want to get married, love?"

"Let me sleep on that," said Angie with a smile as she cuddled against Clive. Then, he turned off the light…and went to sleep.

**TO BE CONTINUED….. **


	8. Chapter 8

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

**PART EIGHT: HOMECOMINGS **

**I. WARGAMES**

**Spacce Battleship **_**Argo**_

**The Vicinity of Saturn-Titan**

**Friday, April 8, 2208**

**1400 Hours Local Time**

The _Argo_ had just passed the Saturn-Titan space station at 1400 when a number of blips appeared on Nova's radar.

"Twenty-four objects approaching the ship," she said. "Range, eight megameters; speed, twenty-five space knots and accelerating. Video panel _on_!"

The video panel came up, and Sandor looked up. "Cosmo Tiger II Deck Planes…attack formation, Captain Wildstar!"

"It looks like the Sun Tigers," said Wildstar as he got up from his post and looked up at the markings of the planes. "The _Arizona_ must be nearby," he said. "All right, two can play this game! Domon, scramble squadrons one and three of the Black Tigers!"

"Yessir," he said. Domon repeated the order, and, a few moment later, Hardy's squadron was on the attack, followed by Brew's squadron.

"All right, Tigers," he said. "We've gotta get those guys, and we've gotta get them good! Ah don't like the idea that they got the jump on us."

"Me neither," replied Brew after his section leaders reported in. "Man, I could use a brew right now!"

"We'll save that for Ganymede after this battle," said Hardy.

Soon, the Black Tigers and the Sun Tigers were clashing, firing lasers at practice intensity as they began simulated dogfights. More Sun Tigers had to break off and fly back home as "dead" planes than Black Tigers. Cory Conroy was not pleased at that from his plane, and he slammed a gloved hand on his dashboard and began a second attack upon Hardy and his fighters.

In the meantime, on the _Arizona_ herself, her current radar officer, a young woman whom Nova had helped to train named Lieutenant Carla Thomas, sat up at her post and said, "Captain, the _Argo_ appears to have spotted us! Range, fourteen megameters, speed, twenty-two space knots!"

At his post, Captain Mark Venture shut his eyes and thought, _Okay, Wildstar, gonna try to show me up, huh?_ _Not today, buddy. I'm gonna kick your butt!_ "Open main guns, Dash!" he said as he got up and walked towards a spot behind Navigation."Target, the _Argo_! Open fire as soon as they are within our range!"

"Yessir, opening main guns," said Dash from his post at Combat as the ship's Group Leader.

"Range, thirteen megameters," said Thomas.

"Mrs. Venture, increase our speed," said Mark as he nodded at his wife Holly, who was at the helm as his Navigation Group Leader.

"Yessir!" she said. "Increasing speed to twenty-eight space knots…Course?"

"Straight intercept for the _Argo_!"

"Aye, _aye_, sir!"

"Domon, main guns ready," said Wildstar from his post! "Keep the _Arizona_ right on target!"

"Understood," said Domon.

"Message from the _Arizona_, voice-only!" said Homer from his post. "Wildstar, they're demanding our surrender! What should I reply?"

"No answer," said Wildstar. "Domon, call in the Tigers!"

"Yessir," said Domon. The Black Tigers began to come in amoment later.

When the squadrons were in, Wildstar said, "Fire when ready, Domon! Practice rounds only!"

"Yessir! Open fire! Practice conditions!"

The _Argo's_ guns went off….at practice intensity, where the only effect they would have would be to hit the _Arizona's_ sensors…but, still the energy bolts looked impressive.

Soon, word come to Nova and Eager by way of their sensors that the _Argo_ had scored several hits on the _Arizona_.

A moment later, the _Arizona_ performed a short warp, and then, at closer range, she began to fire back at the _Argo_. The _Argo_ herself took "damage" as more of the

Sun Tigers roared up out of the space battleship.

Soon, the _Argo_ was surrounded by fighters, who scored hit after hit, "dying" as the _Argo's_ practice intensity pulse lasers took them out.

A moment later, the _Argo_ turned about, hard, and, "smoking: thanks to crew members putting smoke charges out on deck for fire-fighting practice, the main guns went off several times. From his post, Eager said, "We've hit the _Arizona_ ten times and she's slowin' down!"

"Message from the _Arizona_!" said Homer.

A moment later, Captain Venture appeared on the _Argo's_ screen, shaking his head as he said, "Enemy commander…you've given us a good fight. We're badly damaged and are signalling our intent to surrender. Request permission to retire from the battle?"

"Negative," snapped Derek with a sly grin. "Prepare to be _boarded_, Venture!"

"Screw you, Wildstar!" said Mark with a mock snarl. Then, he laughed and said, "Good battle, Derek. I see we hit your crews' quarters and caused about fifty estimated casualties."

"Yeah?" said Derek. "We took out your engines! You're dead in space!"

"_Don't_ rub it in," said Mark. "Request permission to meet up with you at Titan," said Venture.

"Granted," said Derek. "Bring Mrs. Venture. I'm bringing Mrs. Wildstar. It's been a long time, Venture."

"Yeah, you're telling me," laughed Mark.

A while later, Derek, Mark, and Holly were laughing and drinking beer in the Officers' Club on Titan, while Nova, cognizant of the fact that she was still nursing, ordered a large mug of 7-Up with ice and lime.

"We should've got together sooner, Derek," said Mark as he put down his beer mug. "How are the kids looking, and why couldn't you bring them?"

"They're asleep," Nova said as she sipped at her soda. Then, she looked seriously at Mark and said, "I"d never bring my children to a bar, Mark. I'm not my _mother_."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Venture as he looked at his beer.

Nova then said, "There were times when my father went off on business. I came with him at times, but sometimes, I was left alone with my mother. This was before the planet bombings. I remember when I was about eight or nine, I think my parents' marriage was going through a rough spot. My mother brought me to a bar with her for a couple of times."

"You must've felt grown-up," said Holly.

"Far from it," Nova said as she looked hard at Derek. He held her hand and felt sad as she had recently told him this story on the _Argo_. "There were times I liked it. I got all of the soda and chips I wanted, and I got to play video games at times, watched the baseball or soccer games on the videoscreens, or my mother would let me bowl if it was the sort of social hall that had a bowling alley in it. Mom sometimes went to places like firemens' halls or Shriners' Clubs that had bowling lanes in them. I had to come along because she wouldn't let me out of her sight. After all, I was her "baby". I still am, I think, in her mind. Sometimes I had fun. But sometimes, I heard bad language, yelling, fighting, coughed on cigarette smoke, and…sometimes I saw my mother talking to strange men who weren't my dad. There were times when my mother and Aunt Yvona would have cocktails in those places before Auntie

Yvona really went crazy. Do you think I liked that? I felt alone. _Very_ alone."

"So?" said Holly.

"I don't want to bring my children to a bar," Nova said as Derek looked on with gentleness and compassion. "Not until they reach their majority and maybe we can _all _have a beer together, and a laugh. My children will grow up some day and I know that. They are our babies now, but Derek and I know they will not be babies forever. I don't care to leave them vegetating in a place like that, daydreaming…thinking of imaginary friends…thinking of princes who would carry them away from that," Nova said as she smiled at Derek. Then, she opened her purse and said, "Here's some pictures. Alex is getting really big," Nova said as she showed off pictures of her children with pride. One made them laugh…it was one of Nova in a bathtub full of suds, playing with Ariel as the baby girl blew suds at her.

"Now, that's cute!" laughed Mark. "Nova…uh…is that your boob there half-covered with suds?" he said as she blushed and Holly slapped his hand.

"yes," Nova said with a blush. "Cute picture…uh… isn't it? But Holly, when are you and _Mark_ having kids?" Nova asked with all innocence. "You see, I think it would be cute if my son dated your daughter someday, or maybe the other way around…silly me…"

"We can," said Holly. "But we've been having trouble..uhhh…"

"Relaxing?" Derek said.

Venture nodded; now _he_ was blushing. Nova then patted his hand and said, "No need to worry, Mark. Derek and I had a lot of nights and weeks like that in the early part of the Second Cometine War before he finally got me pregnant. We just had to relax a bit…and stop trying so hard."

Holly shook her reddish-auburn hair and said, "So, you think _we've_ been trying too hard?"

"Maybe," Nova said.

Holly whispered something in Mark's ear, and he smiled as he patted her hand.

"That's a good idea," said Venture. He and Holly kissed, and the get-together went on.

**II. THE LAST WARP**

**Space Battleship **_**Argo**_

**The Jupiter Region**

**Saturday, April 9, 2208**

**0500 Hours Local Time**

Finally, the _Argo's_ mission was coming to an end, with the space trials successful to this point.

The _Argo_ prepared to make her last space warp of the mission at exactlly 0500.

The target was pretty conventional; they would be warping back to the orbiit of Earth from Jupiter, travelling for about an hour through normal space, and then landing safely at home at 0630. Then, there would be debriefings, and then they could all go home for a few days' worth of leave before they went on to their next assignments.

"Course laid in," Nova said from her post, trim in her gold and black uniform and boots. "Captain, I read signs of a small hyperspace eddy popping up between the Jupiter Asteroid belt and the Mars orbit. I think we should just skirt it. Just my two cents' worth."

"Captain, should we recalculate our course to avoid it?" Sandor asked as he looked at his instruments. "Those periodic disturbances can be dangerous to pass through. We might get shaken up."

Derek sat in thought. "Nova, how wide do you read the eddy as?"

"Several hundred megameters wide," Nova said. "We could calculate a new course to bypass it, in which case Kitano would have to take us around to RPX-231, right here," said Nova as she caused a graphic of her scans to come up on the main screen. "That big blue blob is the eddy. It's like going through turbulence in a thunderstorm in an aircraft, and we'd be going past its edge. We wouldn't lose much time; maybe forty-five minutes."

"What would the effect be if we forged on, Sandor?" asked Wildstar.

"Hmmm..hard to tell," Sandor said. "Maybe nothing. At that distance, it's not really dangerous, and the compensator loops would protect us from any major damage to the ship or our bodies. They've gotten better than they were in 2199 when our first warp damaged the aft portion of the ship and we landed on Mars. We might come out of the warp tired, nauseated, faint, or maybe missing weapons or even articles of our clothing." Nova blushed at that, thinking it would be funny if they came out of warp and she was abruptly missing a boot or her bra or something. Such things had happened before. Sandor then looked at Wildstar and said, "It's your call, sir."

Commodore Wildstar then said, "I want to get home. I hope all of you have clean underwear on, because maybe some of us might see it."

"Is _your _underwear clean, sir?" asked Diane Henson.

Derek blushed at that and said, "Yes. It's clean."

"Let's get to it," said Kitano. "Begin preparations for the space warp."

"Making preparations for warp," Nova sighed, thinking, _Derek,_ _I'd better have my uniform intact when this finishes_. _I hope we're not doing the wrong thing!_

The preparations were quick. Ten minutes later, they were ready, and the engines came up. At that, Kitano pulled back the lever. The _Argo_ again kicked off, blasting into the Fourth Dimension in a spectacular display of colors and lights. The passage into warp itself was normal after all of the preparations were completed.

It was what happened _in _warp that was very strange.

As they drifted in warp space and skirted the eddy, Sandor and Eager felt the feeling first; the disconcerting feeling that their uniforms were vanishing. Soon, the effects of the warp seemed to leave them both in nothing but their boxer shorts for a moment.

_Another transitory effect,_ thought Sandor as he glanced down at himself and felt himself "bouncing" around everywhere as the ship passed through subspace_. I think it'll be normal when we re-emerge into normal space. Poor Nova. She's told me she sometimes goes through these illusory…episodes where her things just vanish. Hope she is not going through one now._

Nova _was_ going through one, as it turned out, as the _Argo_ went past the eddy.

So was Diane.

Nova felt the feeling first; the disconcerting sensation that her outer clothing was gone. She glanced down at herself, got a good view of her own bra and panties, and then shivered as even those faded away and she seemed to be drifting totally naked in hyperspace.

She felt some consolation as she looked through the distorted lights at Diane Henson and saw that she was experiencing the same thing as she was also stripped nude in the warp. And so was Paul Rosstowski.

_Welcome to the club_, Nova thought with a lopsided grin as she wiggled her toes. _Oh, well, I think everything…or almost everything will be back on me when we come out of it, and…okay..it might be kind of fun to come out of warp with my boots missing and in my bare feet, as long as everything else comes back on me…._

Nova then turned her head to the Captain's Station, and noticed that Derek was apparently sitting there in just his Captain's hat. He then "flashed" all over the place as multiple images of him appeared, and Nova saw that he only seemed to have a _fundoshi _on.

_Better close my eyes; this is too weird_, Nova thought as she again shut her eyes, and counted to herself…

"One one-thousand…"

"Two one-thousand…"

"Three one-thousand…"

Nova looked through the flashing lights and colors as the distant Earth appeared in front of them in the windows as the _Argo_ slammed out of warp.

"Warp completed," said Kitano, who felt very cold. He suddenly realized he had nothing on but his underpants. "_What_?"

"Warp eddy…I think," said Sandor as he sat there, clad himself in only his underpants. "And, no…the warp is NOT completed! The spatial sensors are giving us strange readings…we may not be fully emerged into normal space yet!"

"I feel sick!" Domon yelled. "This is weird!

"

"Damnit, I'm _naked!_" yelled Homer from across the bridge. "Look!"

And he stood up and turned around. Diane licked her lips a little as she realized he _was_ naked. From his post, Wildstar yelled, "Homer, sit down! All hands remain at your posts, and…"

From not far away, he heard Nova realizing her situation as she screamed, "They didn't come _back yet!_ NO!"

"Mrs. Wildstar, what are you wearing right now?" said Derek.

"No…NOTHING!" Nova yelled. "Derek…I felt naked in the warp….and…we sort of came out of warp that way…if we _are_ out! Look! We should have gone around that thing! Why _don't_ you take my advice when I try to give directions, sir? Typical man, never taking directions from a woman! DAMNIIT" She looked down at herself, wiggled her toes against the ribbed footplates under her post (which suddenly felt very cold because she was now barefoot against them) and she then put her arms over her breasts to try and cover herself. She also looked back at Derek and blushed. Only now the crew could see that when she blushed, it was an _all-over blush_.

Across from her, Diane Henson was laughing her head off. She also had nothing on. "Hey, Steve!" she yelled. "Wanna _look_?" Then she looked at Sandor and wolf-whistled!

Steve blushed and glanced at Diane. "Interesting," he said as he smiled and turned back to his instruments, trying to think of anything else except the glimpse he had seen of his girlfriend's large, firm breasts, flat stomach….and other parts of her. _Concentrate on my work, _he thought_. Concentrate! Cold shower later!_ _Cold shower later!_ _Hmmm…Looks like my little "kid sister" Nova lost her things, too! OK…she's cute…and I've seen her out of uniform before…but…not the girl I'm dating. Diane! Cold shower!_

"You should have taken Nova's advice too, Steve!" yelled Diane. "Or did you plan this, you _pervert_?" she yelled.

"Well, uhhh…I know of the effect," said Sandor as he put his hands over his lap.

"What's wrong with you?" Diane snapped.

"Uh…my fly came open on these shorts," said Sandor. "And…Diane…off the record, I need a cold, _cold_ shower."

"Join the cold shower club, Steve," snapped Wildstar from his post. "When Peppermint and I got serious, I became a charter member!"

"And I need one now without Aliscea around," said Rosstowski.

"Lucky," said Domon. "I don't have anyone _around! LUCKY!"_

"So when do you need that shower, Stephen?" teased Diane.

"Not important," said Sandor. "Please! I'm trying to analyse why this happened. And…when we'll complete the warp! We're stuck!""

"Stuck?" said Domon.

"_Philadelphia Experiment_ stuck," said Sandor. "That was a supposed old US Naval Test system that failed in the 1940's. All explanations later!"

"Steve, I'd give you something," Nova said. "Problem is…right now…I literally don't have a thing to wear," she said. "_Literally." _Then, Nova put her head in her hands and laughed. It was either that, or start crying.

"C'mon..let's get some discipline here!" Derek snapped (while trying to hold his fundoshi on; it had suddenly gotten tighter as various thoughts of Nova sunning herself in her current state of dress on a beach came to his mind) "Commander Sandor, Mrs. Wildstar, any bright ideas? C'mon! _You two_ are the smart ones up here!"

"That mean _we're_ stupid?" asked Eager.

Nova hit herself on the forehead suddenly. "No! Wait! What's _wrong_ with me? I'm acting like an idiot! Redstar! The Sea of Fire! What in the name of God is WRONG with me? _That's it!_" Nova snapped. Then, heedless of her nudity, she kicked back her chair, got up, and knelt down on the deck, opening an access hatch at her post near the deck.

"Nova, what in blue _blazes_ are you doing?" Derek asked. "With all respect, Lieutenant Commander, I'm married to you…I _know_ what that looks like! Crew, tend to your stations!"

"Bright idea, sir! We're in luck," Nova said as she pulled out a bundle. "Sir, we should all have our stations stocked with the old-style emergency space suits, all of us. Right? We're not facing a pressure loss, but we can break these out if we have them so we have something on and restore discipline and check out the rest of the ship. We did the same thing in drills and at the Voton Star when we were near those prominences on our way to Iscandar, Derek! Remember? Remember how hot it was when we were near the Sea of Fire? Also, my readings still indicate that the ship may not yet be fully materialized from the warp…it'd be good to have helmets on until I know it's all clear! Suggest going to Condition Zebra until we're sure of where and when we are."

"Yeah….Good thinking; remind me to take you out to Riccardi's Steakhouse for dinner when we get home." said Commodore Wildstar as as he saw Nova dressing herself in one of the old heavy spacesuits at near warp speed as he thought _Now why didn't I think of that?_ "All hands, break out emergency space gear and secure for space conditions until the all clear is given! We are under Condition Zebra, repeat!" Derek said as a strange, ghostly hum began to fill the bridge. The crew screamed as they felt a bizarre bump, and then everything seemed to stabilize.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We appear to have come out of it," said Sandor. "I'm checking my instruments," he said as he was getting dressed. "Nova, spot me and check yours."

"Right," she said as she stood at her post pulling a boot on. Then, she locked down her helmet and said, "Secure for Condition Zebra. Taking scans now…I'll have results in a minute…"

Derek then continued with, "When we're done, check with your section chiefs to see if anyone else aboard ship is running around like this! This is plain _nuts!_" Derek then repeated his order over the shipboard PA system as he began to pull his gear on while Homer began to get dressed in a hurry.

"Aye, aye, sir," said Domon as he began to dress.

Three minutes later, as Diane was zipping her spacesuit closed, the bridge doors whizzed open, and Dawn Hardy ran onto the bridge, wearing only a robe and carrying a crying Ariel. Sasha came behind her, wearing only a t-shirt and carrying Alex. Both babies were as bare as the day they were born. Since they were still babies, that was neither a very rare or exceptional occurrence. But Nova's eyebrows went up, because they should have been in spacesuits. Derek had ordered it.

"Mrs. Hardy! Mrs. Wakefield!" snapped Commodore Wildstar as he stood near the fore part of the bridge about to close up his suit to comply with Condition Zebra, which was a code for being in full space gear. "Didn't you hear the order? And how come they aren't dressed in something?"

"We did hear the order, sir," said Sasha as she held up Alex.

Nova checked some sensors at her post. "Scan completed. Sandor, normality seems to have resumed. What are you getting when you scan the dimensional matrix and spatial state indicatiors?"

"Nominal…same thing you have," Sandor said. "But I was checking the computers just now. Captain Wildstar," he said. "There is a major problem with three of the subroutines in the main computer that control the warp mechanism. I'm finding evidence the code has been corrupted…"

"Not good," Derek sighed. "We have to work on this later. Nova, stand down to Condition Bravo…except for those in living areas, that is."

"Yessir," she said. She got on the PA and said, "This is the First Bridge, stand down from Condition Zebra, resume Condition Bravo except if you are in your cabin getting dressed, and dress in normal shipboard uniforms ASAP." Then, she turned to Sasha and said, "Sasha, this would be cute if this was my bedroom, our bathroom at home, or our nursery, but, with all respect, why the hell are my children naked? And where your things, you two?" Nova said as she took her helmet off. "We could have just lost more than our clothes, you know!"

Dawn said, "Ma'am, we were trying to get something on these two when they began to scream for their mother…and…."

Nova blushed. "Yes, it would be that time of morning," she sighed. "Captain, request permission to have Mrs. Wakefield relieve me at my post. I think I need to take the junior cadets up to our cabin for a bit for their… ummm…breakfast bar. And they also need _something_ on. I have baby clothes up there."

"Permission granted!" Derek said. "Sasha, take over at Nova's post."

"What do I do?" said Dawn as Nova got up and took Alex and Ariel from her and Sasha. Domon and Eager smiled at the two naked babies squiggling against their mother…and trying to grab her breasts through her spacesuit. Nova turned to leave, but Dawn was yelling, "Look at me! I'm fat and ugly in this! _Look_!" she yelled, pulling her robe open in a hormonal rush to reveal her pregnant nakedness. "I look _grotesque_! I'm not a teenager anymore! I'm…I'm…OLD!"

"Mrs. Hardy, close that robe!" snapped Derek.

"You wouldn't do that if that was _Nova_!" she shot back.

"Yes I would! She knows damn well this is the bridge of a warship and not some kind of men's club! Now obey my _order_!" snapped Derek.

"Dawn, you are not fat or old. You look pregnant," Nova said as she juggled her babies in her arms. "It's perfectly normal, and we all know what a pregnant woman looks like by now. For your information, I thought I looked perfectly nice when I was pregnant, and I think you look perfectly lovely, too. Unless you're having a hot flash, and you need to have your breasts out or something for the irritation like I had to at times…could you _please_ cover yourself up? We are under Condition Bravo, and this is not a clothes-optional or topless beach, where if it is about a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, it feels perfectly good to take it all off and go naked. I've done it."

"Yes, please do cover up," said Sandor. "Although I do agree with Nova; you look lovely. I'll bet Jefferson is very proud of you, Ensign."

Dawn stood there, looking shocked as Nova walked past with the babies. She was softly singing a lullabye as she left the bridge, heading up to her cabin to get out of her spacesuit and nurse them.

Derek found Nova that way ten minutes later when he tapped at the cabin hatch. After he identified himself, he came in, finding Nova back in the nude with the kids on her lap, taking her breasts. "Well, at least _they_ look happy; you don't," Derek said as he kissed his son and daughter's backs. Then, he kissed Nova on the nose. "Sorry I gave that order to go through the edge of that hyperspatial disturbance you picked up. Good thing it didn't get any worse. You do see I tried to restore discipline ASAP. What do you want to put on when you're finished?"

"I'm not annoyed now, Derek. These things…happen, and I don't question your decision to get home early," Nova said as she exhaled in a somewhat tired tone of voice. "Between you and me, when I was in the Captain's Chair on the _Danube_, I made some decisions myself that didn't turn out just fine, dandy, and peachy, so no blame. You'll find my Headquarters uniform in the locker, Derek. The one with the skirt. And get me the new pair of shoes from the locker. The white ones with the heels."

"These things?" Derek said as he pulled out a pair of summer pumps with open toes and slingback straps at the open heels. "Are they regulation?"

"Optional," said Nova as she set Ariel on the bunk after burping her and pulled on her panties. "Someone in Command tried to make it a little more comfortable with the weird out-of-season heat and humidity we've been having. And these feel better than the regular closed military dress pumps when you are sweating like crazy."

As Derek began to get out of his space gear and into his EDF blues, Nova said, "I'll drop the kids off at the daycare center at EDF HQ while we debrief. We're expected," Nova said while burping Ariel and pulling on a bra, and then a blouse. Nova then diapered Alex and Ariel and finished dressing herself, pulling on her shoes last. "How do they look?"

"Cute," he said with a smile as he pulled on an older short blue peacoat he had. "Wonder how long the debriefings will be?"

"Hours, probably," said Nova as she puilled a one-piece blue baby outfit on Alex over his diaper that left his little arms and legs bare. "Would you quit squiggling, you little spider?" she teased as she made her son giggle as she tickled his tummy before closing up his oufit. "Mommy loves you! Did Mommy get rid of the hungries for you and your sister?"

Alex responded with "yayayayayayaya baba booboo funny mommy!"

"Mommy is funny," Nova said as she let Ariel crawl back into her lap as she waited with her little pink outfit, which was similar to Alex's, but a bit more stylish, being a miniature version of a pink summer shorts set in a style that her mother loved and wore frequently. One day, before they had left, when Nova had worn the same outfit and dressed Ariel in this (although the baby had worn high pink socks with the outfit rather than the boots Nova had worn) Derek thought they looked just adorable in their matching outfits. Nova had told him that she planned to go to Heroes' Hill with Ariel later that week for a memorial for some of the casualties of the Rikasha Incident with them in the same outfits. Nova had also made a little set of baby-boy sized "EDF blues" (albeit with little shorts instead of bellbottoms) and a tiny peacoat for Alex to wear so he'd match his father.

Finally, a while later, Sandor said over the PA that they were in orbit around Earth, and were home at last at 0700 Hours. Derek then called Dawn back from Sickbay to help with the kids as they went down to the First Bridge again for landing.

**SIX HOURS LATER….**

In the Tokyo Megalopolis, back on Earth, after the _Argo _had been docked and the crew dismissed at 0830, Derek and Nova had attended some initial debriefings with the Commander and General Stone at Headquarters after the kids had been dropped off. Mercifully, they were finally given lunch at 1245. So, here, at Heroes' Hill at 1300, Nova and Derek were about to have a small picnic lunch in the open in a secluded spot on a hill behind the memorial, not that far from a small beach and a small stretch of woods that made up part of the National Park around the memorial.

As Nova knelt in the grass, she said, "Look at these marigolds, Derek! Mind if I pick some for my office at Headquarters?"

"Be my guest…but I am hungry," he said.

Nova smiled, and she picked some of the flowers, both the pink ones and the white ones, while holding her briefing book momentarily in her other hand. Then, while making a bouquet with a sheet of florists' tissue paper she had hidden in her book, she said, "So what sort of parents do you think the Hardys and the Wakefields will make? I estimate that Dawn and Sasha will have those babies coming in about two or three weeks."

"I know Sasha and Deke will probably make great parents," Derek sighed as he spread out a plaid blanket Nova had put in the car. "Here…get on this…it'll feel better against your bare legs."

"The grass feels very good…but this feels even better," she said as she slipped off her sandals and tossed them aside. "Mmm…That feels so good. Derek, I wish I could spend the rest of the weekend barefoot. I know it sounds goofy, but you don't realize that women's shoes are sometimes torture to wear."

"Once we get home, who's stopping you?" Derek teased. "Certainly not me. You just want to be on the beach when we get home…don't you?"

Nova nodded as she got onto the blanket beside her husband and opened the picnic basket. "What did you get us?" Derek asked.

"Ham on rye with swiss. And Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer," she said as she pulled out two cold glass bottles. "This is the first time I've ever found these anywhere in the world except Philadelphia or Allensburg. They must have some expatriate Pennsylvania Germans here in the Megalopolis!"

"Wasn't one of the guys we met in the Commander's office named Nederhaus?" said Derek.

"Boy, Earth is sure rebuilding," Nova said as she looked out to the ocean. "If we had time, I'd want to run down there for a swim, but we don't."

"Did you pack swimwear?" teased Derek.

"I don't think so," Nova said. "Not that many people come here when there's not a memorial ceremony, and who goes back here?" She checked her wristwatch and said, "Darn…and I should have brought the kids with us."

"Nova?"

"I usually feed them around now," Nova said. "And it would have been a nice excuse to strip down to my skin and sunbathe…I'm getting _hot_,I wish I knew why it is still so hot on Earth!" she said. She then opened her coat and got it off, followed by her ascot and the blue EDF tie that went with her blouse under her coat . Derek smiled, hoping he'd see more of her shortly. A few weeks back, on a very unseasonably hot day when they had had the kids with them, Nova had spent part of a similar picnic lunch like this topless in just her skirt, and part of it in nothing at all as she had gotten romantic on the sly with Derek after the kids were asleep, praying no one caught them like that in the grass. "Now, back to Dawn," Nova said. "What kind of _mother_ is she going to be? I feel so bad for her and Jeff."

"I need not ask why," Derek said as he opened his coat and threw it aside. "How much time do we have until that next briefing with the Defense Council?"

"Seventy minutes, twenty of which we'll spend in traffic downtown in the car," Nova said. "Derek, I don't think Dawn has any idea of what she'll be facing when she has those twins. None at all. And I think when she is in labor, she'll just lose it."

"They could knock her out and give her a C-Section," Derek said as he had food in his mouth.

"They only do that in emergencies when there is a medical need," Nova said. "She'll have her twins the same way I did…on her back and screaming soprano."

"Poor Dawn," said Derek. "And I thought your vocal range was alto or mezzo-soprano."

"If you recall, Derek, I went soprano in labor around the time I punched _you_ in the nose," she said as she tapped her husband on the nose. Then, she worked on her sandwich and then delicately wiped her mouth. Then, Nova smiled and opened her blouse as Derek's eyes went wide.

"I thought you said we didn't have time…" Derek said.

"Just getting more comfortable," Nova said as she tied her blouse shut at her midriff under her breasts, leaving her well-toned stomach bare. "Not regulation, but again, we're not at Headquarters. Take off your shirt, Derek! _And _your boots! You'll feel better!"

Derek did so, and said, a moment later, as he wiggled his toes in the grass, "You're right..this does feel better…I know…we can't tell the Defense Coucil to reschedule, could we?"

"Why?" Nova said.

"That ocean is looking mighty tempting right now. And so are you."

"If this wasn't such a big meeting, I'd call the Defense Council and tell them you got sick all of a sudden. I'd figure some disease out…even though we both know what the real disease is, Derek…"

"Spring fever," Derek said.

"And not being able to make out with you for three days," Nova whispered as she tiptoed over to him and sat next to him.

She took his face in her hands and began to kiss him. The kisses went down his neck as they fell back onto the grass together, and soon, Derek was kissing the nape of Nova's neck, and making her shiver.

Nova kissed Derek's nose and was reaching for his belt buckle when they heard laughter on the wind. They stopped and sat up like startled bunny rabbits as Stephen Sandor and Diane Henson showed up.

Sandor had changed from his Star Force uniform to his green Headquarters uniform. Diane, on the other hand, had changed from her Star Force whites (after changing out of her spacesuit aboard ship) to a white blouse, red tie that matched her hair, and a black knee-length skirt. She also went barefoot in the grass because she was carrying her thong sandals behind her back in her hand. Derek hadn't seen her in civilian clothing for some years now, and he thought she looked cute…but not as cute as his wife sitting near him in the grass in her short skirt and uniform blouse tied up under her breasts.

Diane teased them with, "Hey, guys what are you up to? Did we _interrupt_ something, Steve?"

"No comment," grumbled Derek as Nova rolled up her eyes and looked at Diane. "You look good. Cute outfit."

"Cute way to wear your uniform on a picnic, Nova," Diane answered with a smile as she looked at Nova's bare midriff. "By the way, I never got to comment before when you were giving the kids that bath and were naked, but I remember seeing you pregnant and undressed a few months back when you were getting your ultrasound, and, ma'am, your stomach looks so good that you'd never know you were pregnant! Hell, you look good from head to toe! How'd you pull _that_ off?"

"Lots of exercise, healthy eating, and even nursing the kids helped me lose the weight," Nova said, not wanting to add that it was partially due to her sped-up metabolism enhanced by the Cosmo-DNA. "So, what are you guys up to?"

"The same thing you two were up to," said Sandor. "We just had lunch at a place near Headquarters. The Council wants to see us in a while, Wildstar."

"Yeah, darn," Derek said as he grabbed his EDF shirt and pulled it back on after Nova wiped his back and chest with a towel before putting her briefing book and bouquet back in the empty picnic basket with the trash and the blanket that she grabbed up. She stood up, opened her blouse, and opened her skirt and let it down slightly to tuck it in (not thinking much of it, since all three present had seen her in far less) when a familiar electronic voice said to Nova, "Beautiful panties, Nova! Did you wear those for _me_?"

"IQ-9!" Nova barked as she tucked in her blouse and pulled her skirt back up to her waist and closed it very fast. "Steve, did he come here with you?"

"No, Doctor Sane," Sandor said as Nova screeched while IQ-9's hand shot out and tugged the hem of her skirt up while she was trying to button up her blouse. "Would you _quit_ that, IQ?" Nova yelped. The little robot made some noises, and then spun around and caught Diane. As Nova jumped back, IQ-9 pulled up Diane's skirt from the back. She screamed as her tiny thong panties were thus exposed to the full view of Nova, Derek, and Steve. IQ then said, "Nice legs, Diane! But my true love Nova's are nicer!"

Then, he flipped around and pulled Nova's skirt up to her waist as she screamed and kicked him with the ball of her bare foot. Nova jumped back, grabbed her sandal, and got it on with the back strap undone, giving IQ-9 a good kick with her partially-shod foot as he grabbed at her again.

Derek held back the desire to laugh, and he yelled, "IQ-9! Remember, Nova's my wife and the mother of three children! QUIT IT!"

"She's going to be _my_ wife!" said IQ. "Captain, sir, I'll go get a Robot Magistrate, a Tenth Series, to issue a divorce and then a marriage license so Nova can marry me! Her new name will be Nova Nine!"

"No, you won't!" Nova snapped as she got her other shoe on and looked at IQ-9 as furiously as possible as she pulled Derek close to her. "I'm not divorcing my Derek! Besides, robot judges only have jurisdiction over robotic affairs and have no jurisdiction over humans!"

"I know the judge," said IQ-9. "I helped design his AI Circuits."

"I don't care if you know _Buddha_ personally," snapped Nova. "I am _not_ leaving my husband for a tinwit!"

As Doctor Sane came up, laughing at the bizarre argument, he said, "IQ, I'd quit it if I were you. You'll never win!"

"Let me drown my sorrows in your so-called Spring Water!" said IQ-9 as he grabbed Sane's bottle and dumped the boozy brew all over his dome. "Oh, bless the maker! I am so drunk now! HIC!" said IQ-9.

"What were you guys doing here?" Derek asked as he pulled on his boots and then grabbed up his peacoat.

"Paying our respects to the Captain," said Doctor Sane as Nova buckled the heel straps shut on her sandals and grabbed at her jacket, getting into a momentary tug-of-war with IQ over it as he tried to grab her again. "I thought you said you were drunk!" Nova snapped.

"Hey, babe.." said IQ-9 in a slurred voice that sounded like Isaac Hayes. "Let's go make some hot buttered soul together…"

"Let's see how quickly you can soak your head in Spring Water, IQ!" Nova snapped as she threw her tie, jacket and scarf back on. As he burbled around as he went for Diane, Nova jumped up on a retaining wall, and said, "Diane! Tinwit at five o'clock! Watch your skirt!"

Diane screamed as Nova grabbed Derek's hand, waved at the others, and ran off into the woods with him to take the long way around as she picked up her picnic basket.

When they got into the woods, Derek asked, "Why are you sticking so close to me, Nova?"

"It is my hope, sir, that you will protect me from a certain Tinwit if and when he decides to follow us down this path. Although I notice this place is even more secluded than those hills…"

"So, what is it you are asking for?" laughed Derek.

"Not to be protected from you," Nova said. "In fact, if we didn't have that stupid meeting to go to…I would hope that you might imitate the Big Bad Wolf and tell me what big eyes I have."

"Oh, Nova, who sometimes dresses like Peppermint Patty when it is hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk," teased Derek. "You have such big eyes…"

"The better to stare at you with, my dear," said Nova as she turned around and faced him. Then, she kissed him and said, "We'd better get to that meeting. The Earth Defense Council gets pretty nasty when we're late. And remember, you owe me dinner at that Steakhouse, Mister!"

"Yeah," said Derek as they walked hand-in-hand to back to the shrine at Heroes' Hill, and back towards their car in the far parking lot….

**TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER…**

"Commodore, you and Mrs. Wildstar are late again, " snapped General Jackson Stone as Derek and Nova took their seats before the Earth Defense Council.

"We're sorry, sir," said Derek as he sat down between Sandor and Nova, who were at the far end of the table. "Where's Diane?" whispered Derek as he looked at Sandor.

"Downstairs in the coffee shop waiting for us," said Sandor.

Derek looked to his left to Nova, who had the briefing book closed before her on the table. "Sir," said Derek as he stood, saluted, and looked at the Commander. "Permission to refer to our briefing extracts."

"Granted," said Commanding General Singleton as Derek nodded to Nova, who opened the booklet. A moment later, in the background, another young woman in a white HQ uniform with dark brown hair and with less in the way of decorations on than Nova came up to her and whispered, "And these are the extracts you downloaded from your ship to your office, ma'am. I printed them out as per your e-mail."

"Thank you, Sergeant," whispered Nova, smiling softly at her enlisted secretary and aide.

Sgt. Victoria Pearson, Nova's aide, crisply saluted her superior officer with a hand-to-the-heart salute as she stepped back, her own ultra-hot-and-humid weather dress sandals clicking lightly against the deck as Singleton said, "Commodore Wildstar, tell us something of the nature of this new enemy. Are they an Empire, space pirates, or terrorists?"

"We're not sure, sir. They just came out of nowhere after they admitted they had destroyed the ore carrier _Monongahela_, sir. The enemy commander, that strange General Ibn Zoltar character, said that he had demanded the surrender of that vessel and was demanding ours. He said nothing much about his nation's motives, nor did he, of course identify their location," said Commodore Wildstar.

"Any guesses on the nature of their mecha, Commander Sandor?" said a tall, African-American general with an almost bald head who sat there staring hard at the group. He was Lieutenant General Gilbert Alexander, a man Derek didn't know all that well. He was not inclined to think that well of the new head of Intelligence since he knew that, in terms of rank seniority due to time in grade, he was General O'Malley's superior. However, Sandor had commented to he and Nova before the meeting that Alexander had been a classmate of himself and Derek's brother Alex at the Space Fighters' Training Academy and that he had been a bright man who had made connections and come up through the ranks quickly. If Derek wou;d have been able to see the future, he would know for sure that Alexander would play an increasingly important role in the EDF over the next twenty years, up until the time that the bright officer would reach his top rank in 2228 and then eventually succeed an officer who would be thought to be almost irreplacable. But all of that was in the future.

"Well, we know it uses Magna-Power of some type, sir," said Sandor. "I'm inclined to think they have something to do with the Cometines. Maybe they are a rival House of theirs, or someone supported by them, sir. We also had a bad warp accident on our way home, sir. There was a problem with the main computers and I suddenly found corrupted code in the computer."

"The nature of the technical problem?" said General Margolis of Naval Design.

"Sir, it had to do with the reality stabilizers. It took close to three minutes after we reached our destination to fully emerge into normal space, and our spatial stability was so damaged that most of us remained out of uniform after emerging from warp. A mere hyperspatial eddy should not have done that. There's some problem with the computers."

"Get it fixed and give us a report," said Margolis.

"Mrs. Wildstar," said Stone. "Are you up on your…diplomatic contacts?"

"I am, sir," Nova replied.

"Is it my understanding that the Gamilons have relations with House Gatlantis? We need to set up some kind of interests section with the Cometines, even if we don't have diplomatic relations yet."

"They do, sir. Desslok is actually the titular head of that House now, but I have the impression from the dispatches from Gamilon that the actual power behind the Throne of that House is General Radnar. Pellias also has some contacts with the Cometines."

"All right then," said Stone. "Mrs. Wildstar, go to the Gamilon Embassy on Monday, and take that Pellian pilot friend of yours…what's her name, Savela? Does she have contacts with Pellias? Her and your cousin?"

"Yessir," said Nova. "We'll set up an appointment for Monday. I'll take Katrina with me, sir. I take it I can also take the Commodore?"

"Certainly," huffed Stone. "Both of you report back to the Commander and I on Monday. Next order of business?"

**III. A HOT, HUMID HOMECOMING**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**The Wildstar Residence**

**April 8, 2208**

**1515 Hours**

Later that day, Nova and Derek got back home at last and they were greeted with a blast of hot, humid air as soon as they opened the door of their house.

"What's wrong with the damn central air conditioning?" Derek yelled as he held Alex.

"I don't know," said Nova as she held Ariel, who was beginning to cry. "Darn! The diagnostics panel said there was a power outage while we were in space. What is it, honey…hot?" said Nova as she kised Ariel and took off her little sundress, leaving her in just her diaper and sandals as Nova slipped out of her uniform jacket and tie. "Derek, we have to get windows open in the living room, at least!"

"I'll do it," said Derek.

"And get little Alex out of those clothes! He might get heatstroke!" Nova said as she worked frantically with the little computer panel for the climate control as she held a squalling Ariel. "What's wrong?" she said.

"Firsty," Ariel said.

"Okay, I can help with that," Nova said as she opened her blouse, not even taking her scarf off. Out came her breasts, and Nova promptly gave Ariel a breast while she began unbuckling the little white slingback sandals that matched the ones her mother had on.

While feeding Ariel, the baby passed gas, and, suddenly, made an explosive (and stinky) baby mess in her diaper. The diaper promptly leaked, soaking Nova's hand, lower stomach, skirt, and legs with the mess. "Oh,.no! Poor Ariel!" Nova said. "Derek, get me some wipes! Ariel just made a mess!"

"How bad?" said Derek as he brought up Alex, whom he had stripped down to his birthday suit. Then, he saw the mess as Nova struggled out of her skirt and panties, which fell to the floor around her sandaled feet. "That's a mess!"

"Clean us up, please?" said Nova. Derek kissed her and got Ariel out of her diaper, which he wrapped up in Nova's discarded skirt. Then, he helped Nova clean off both his naked daughter and then he started on Nova with the wet, soothing wipes, tenderly pulling her blouse off her shoulders as he cleaned her stomach and tickled it. Derek made her shiver as he cleaned Nova's upper thighs, between her thighs, and the area between her buttocks with some baby wipies. When she was clean, Nova laughed as she plopped down on a new green couch in their den, laughing again as Derek played "this little piggie" with her toes and Ariel's as he pulled off both of their pairs of sandals and tossed them to the side.

"You're so sexy when you're like this, mommy," Derek whispered as her stroked her hair.

"I know," Nova said as Alex crawled onto her lap and accepted her breast. She smiled at her twins as they cuddled against her body. "Why do you think I _love_ to breastfeed naked? Okay. Almost naked. This feels good. It feels so much better when my breasts are just _out_, Derek." She sat partly on her husband's lap as he caressed the twins' backs, their tushies, and then his wife's lovely left thigh.

For a while, Derek tenderky cuddled his children and their mother at the same time, smiling as they looked to him and Nova with love in their eyes, and smiling as Nova looked at him with love and longing in her eyes.

"They're almost done," Nova said a few minutes later as she burped them while Derek got up. "Get a blanket and put them in the playpen with their new toys," Nova said. "I don't want them dressed until the air conditioning comes back up and cools down the house. And why don't you undress, Derek? No one's looking except me and the babies. And I'm already mostly naked and want to get out of everything as soon as possible….like we almost did before back at Heroes' Hill…"

"I have my reasons," said Derek as he kissed her with a devilish look in his eyes.

A few more minutes had passed.

Derek looked back over his shoulder at the playpen in the hot living room in the Megalpolis where Alex and Ariel played with their toys, now clean, but playing on a blanket because they were still both very much naked.

Their mother was also still almost naked in the hot house as the air conditioning was just coming up. Derek held hands with her,kneeling while kissing Nova from her toes to her navel and back again as he tenderly played with his young wife's breasts and she smiled, wiggling her toes in the carpet as he ran his fingers tenderly over her bare nipples and made them erect. Nova's messy skirt and panties, belt and uniform jacket lay in a pile near her discarded sandals and Ariel's little sandals.

"Derek, if you're going to keep doing that…please strip yourself…it's hot in here….and please strip _me_!"

"What do you want to be?" he asked impishly as he kissed her navel again…then her tender unclad lower abdomen, and finally….the center of her. She shivered with utter delight as he touched her, feeling her dewy wetness. "What do you want to be?" Derek whispered.

"Naked, naked, _naked_! What do you _think_? I'm melting in here! I've been hot all day! And you/'re driving me mad! " Nova gasped. "Oh, God…what are you doing to me in front of the kids? I'm going _mad!_ I'm going to scream! I'm going to have a seizure!"

"They're babies…they don't know any better…and the rest of the house is too hot to put them anywhere else"

"Okay…you're right!" Nova gasped he knelt against the couch, kissing the nape of her neck (clad in just her scarlet scarf) as he drove her mad with his hands, increasing her arousal. Then, noticing a small amount of milk showing at one of her nipples as he played with her breast, Derek shifted position a little and began to kiss her breast and then to suck on it, enjoying the sweet taste of her nipple and her milk as her breathing sped up. While doing so, Nova giggled and said, "Derek, look at Alex and Ariel…."

"I'd rather look at you right now! Why?"

"It looks like they're discovering…the difference…between…boys and girls…" Nova said. Then, as Derek kissed her way down her breast, and down her stomach to the center of her again, and began to do something beautifully initmate to her for a few minutes that seemed like an eternity of joy and pleasure, she said, "God…no..I'm going to explode right here on the couch…I.." Nova shivered, and she clenched his uniform pants legs with her toes as she said, "Derek! I want you _now_! Please take those things of yours _off!_"

"I'll get them off when I'm ready," he growled as he undid his fly…and, then, Nova suddenly cried out in shock and delight as he took her a moment later. "ohhh….my GOD!" she yelled as he began their dance. "yes….yes, yes, yes, YES!"

"Do you want me to undress yet?" he asked primly with an impish smile.

Nova just whimpered and said, "okay…no…_no_…please…keep on going…I…"

"What do you want?" he said.

"It's been three…days…since we've…done.._this_…" Nova said. "Give…me….I want you…I…"

Derek shut up and he obliged as their dance sped up.

Nova held his hand like a drowning woman and grasped his shoulder and clenched her toes even harder as Derek pulled her forcefully onto his lap as her blouse slid down her arms even lower. The blouse was an irrelevant garment now, anyhow, since virtually everything on Nova he had to touch to drive her mad was already exposed.

Finally, several glorious minutes later, Nova cried out as they died in each other's arms. She screamed his name again and again. She saw Alex and Ariel looking at her and gasped, "Daddy's _not_ hurting Mommy! Daddy is making Mommy feel _beautiful! Mommy likes this!_" Then, Nova began to cry happy tears of delight as she laughed and said, "Derek, I want you more, and…it's hot! Finish it! Make me _naked!_ Please!"

Derek caressed her and said, "Okay…your wish is my order, dear! Now sit up…while I finally finish stripping your beautiful body bare for us."

Nova did so, kissing him as she trembled all over, since her preferred mode of dress for lovemaking was going entirely naked. She sometimes teased him with sexy undergarments, but when they got down to it, she liked to have _everything off_ so he could explore her body all over. One time, he had made love to her in their car at a deserted lovers' lane on a cool, almost cold day, and Derek had found Nova's request to be stripped of all of her clothes, jeans, sweatshirt, sandals_,_ sheer undergarments…._ everything_ to be very sexy and maddening in the back seat of her 2205 Mustang, He kissed her again and tenderly undid her scarlet scarf, sliding it off her neck right down one of her tender breasts, making her trembled with delight as the silk ran over her erect nipple. Then, he told her, "Sit up, milady."

Nova did so, smiling as he finally freed her from her blouse, and then he even took her wedding band and engagement ring off her, leaving her smiling as she wiggled her toes slightly, glad that she was _finally_ in the nude in the heat. "Now, Derek, take your clothes off…you must be melting in that uniform, and…"

"I am, but I can hold out a while longer."

"Derek, you're not…?"

He kissed her and pushed her back into the couch, which felt good against her bare back as she fell back, and then was pulled to him again while Alex and Ariel giggled as they played with their toys.

Nova cried out with joy when she found out what he was doing. She gasped as he took her again, with him clothed and her in the nude.

More joy came as their dance continued, going on for fifteen more minutes. Nova was screaming all over again, loving him as they made love.

Finally, she could not keep her hands off of him. She had to feel him against her, so she just began to undress him. She got his pants down first, undid his peacoat, and stripped him of his shirt, freeing him from his pants and boots a moment later, then she took off his dog tags, his rings, everything, until he was as naked as she and their two gurgling babies were.

Then, she stood up, and smiled. "This couch is a guest couch I ordered right before we left," she said as she opened the couch in a hurry, pulling out a foldout bed as she stood there covered only with the happy sweat of lovemaking.

A moment later, Nova pulled him onto the foldout bed, raising her legs as Derek tenderly caressed her.

Then, she whispered, "Finish this and then let's get the kids and ourselves right into the bath until the house cools down. And with this heat, I am _not_ getting dressed! I don't care if the Commander rings the doorbell in the next half hour! I don't care if General Stone rings it in the next hour! Because if I answer that door, I will answer it naked, with Ariel or Alex at a boob, and ask, "May I ask what brings the pleasure of this visit? All of my uniforms are in the wash, sir, and it is over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit out! Like to go swimming?"

Derek laughed like crazy at that joke of Nova's as they continued making love.

Mad love. But they were happy.

When they were done, as a prelimary for the bath, they got Alex and Ariel out of their playpen and snuggled, tickled, and played with them as they giggled. Nova laughed as baby Alex crawled right back to her breast and grabbed it. "Oh, Alexander, you're just like your father! All you want to do is play around with that!"

Derek thought that was funny and he kissed both her and little Alex and then kissed Ariel.

Finally, as Nova nursed her baby son while Derek played with his daughter, Nova said, "Sometime this summer, we have to go back to the island where we had our honeymoon. For a week when Jonathan's in Junior Space Cadet Corps training camp. Just you, me, Alexander, and Ariel. They'd wear their diapers…some of the time, and sunscreen. Guess what we'd wear."

"Sunscreen?"

Nova nodded. "Maybe a hat or two, sandals on the rougher ground…and _nothing else_. Maybe…even…make them a new baby brother or sister when they're napping?"

Derek raised his eyebrows, and they laughed and cuddled.

Then, Alex squealed, and the little naked baby sat up. A moment later, Nova was laughing as he got a hand on his little thing, and then weed all over his young mother's stomach and breasts, just like on the ship a few days ago. "You silly boy!" Nova laughed as Derek laughed along with her. Nova looked at Derek and then at Alex and said, "As long as it stays this hot this weekend…every time I have to feed you or your sister, whether it be from my boobs or the bowl with you decorating me with your food…every time I wash you…every time we go in the pool….I am doing it all in the _nude_!"

"No big change…you've pretty much taken off all of your clothes when you nurse them for the past two weeks anyhow," Derek said.

"You don't mind?" Nova said.

"Mind? Why should I mind when my beautiful young wife happens to run around with her gorgeous breasts, tush and legs out? Your body should be registered as a deadly weapon, my dear!"

Nova then laughed and hit Derek with the pillow. Then she said, "Derek, you owe me that dinner at that steakhouse. When are you calling to make reservations?"

"Soon," said Derek as he smiled at Nova.

They were in love, and they were happy. Nothing else mattered.

**IV. ANOTHER BLAZING HOT DAY…ELSEWHERE**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**Foxworth-Savela Manor**

**April 8, 2208**

**1320 Hours**

"Foxy!" yelled Katrina Foxworth-Savela as she ran across a back courtyard at Foxworth Manor. Katrina was looking for Foxy because she wanted him…for purposes of her own. The courtyard was near their private beach, and a beautiful view of the ocean could be seen from the area. Ironically, the mansion was maybe three kilometers away from Derek and Nova's place. In fact, one day, when up on one of the upper towers of her house with Foxy, having a picnic outside, he pointed out the spot on the shoreline that held the cove that led to the Wildstars' smaller but well-kept home. But, Katrina didn't have that on her mind right now.

She wanted to find Foxy, and fast. "Kazuo!" she yelled as she ran, with her sandals slapped hard against the brick of the courtyard. Katrina hoping the use of his real name would catch Foxy's attention as he mucked around in only his swim briefs near an edge of one of their pools.

"Yes?" said Kazuo a moment later as he pushed his feet into his thongs and ran up to meet her. He kissed her as he spun her around, and then he set her on her sandaled feet. She had on a white and light purple sundress, and looked gorgeous from her bare shoulders down to her bare toes. She giggled as he played footsie with her while they kissed.

"That's the first time I've made you laugh in a while," said Foxy.

"I can laugh when I vant to; have I not the right?" said Katrina. "Let us review again the reasons they call you 'Foxy' before I call you again by your real name. They are?"

Foxy grinned at her and said, "One: I'm crazy like a fox. Two, it is a derivative of part of our last name…"

"The Foxworth part, but one cannot forget the Savela part," said Katrina as they hugged.

"Right," said Foxy. "Three, I'm sneaky like a fox in business. Remember, I'm an investor and lawyer. Part of the game of maximizing the money of my clients is to make those who do not want my clients to make money think I am innocuous and planning only small plans while I set them up for the fall."

"In other words, you are sometimes something of the high-class con man," said Katrina.

"Exactly," said Foxy, as he reached behind his back while he waved his right hand around, grabbed a bouquet out of a vase on a nearby table with his left hand and then presented it to a shocked Katrina. "Didn't know I was gonna do that, did you?"

"I did not expect it," said Katrina as her wet, near-naked husband stood holding her and grinning at her. "Is there sneezing power in here? Is this another one of your stupid magic tricks?"

"Magic is misdirection and conning people," said Kazuo. "Blackstone, Houdini, Doug Henning, David Cooperfield….The Great Migdal…" all of those stage magicians, illusionists, escape artists and weirdoes were great at getting you to look elsewhere or seem innocuous or helpless while they did their dirty work," said Foxy as he looked around, saw no one there, and kicked off one of his flip-flops to push a beach towel over with his toes. Then, he kissed Katrina, smiled, and began to tickle her back and backside with one hand while he began to unzip her dress with the other.

"What…what are you doing?" said a shocked Katrina as Foxy began to slide her dress off of her. He smiled as it fell down her feet, and he kissed her, noticing that she had on a black, lacy stapless bra and black panties on beneath her dress. They were very, _very_ brief, and came close to exposing…quite a bit.

Foxy helped her step out of her dress, and then he picked her up, carried her to the towel, and laid her on it, saying, "I like your bra….."

"I put it on for you…but..but..I was hoping that it would be saved for the master bedroom…I…" Katrina could say no more as Foxy nuzzled her neck, and began to tease her nipples through the lacy cloth. "Kazuo…my…my Heavens…the servants might _see _us!"

"Then they won't have to watch any porn tonight," teased Foxy.

"Foxy…I…I…" she said as Kazuo kissed her neck, her back, and then had her bra coming off. She gasped as he got it off of her and began kissing her breasts passionately, bouncing them around as he played with them. Katrina tried to escape, but all she was able to do was to get her feet up. Foxy then slid down the back straps of her sandals and made her barefoot in a minute, as Katrina realized that she now had on nothing but her panties….

"Kazuo…no! I…no…I…_yes!_" she said as he began kissing her lower abdomen shamelessly. He ran his tongue around in her navel, and then, it ran down her lower stomach as Kazuo slid her panties down her thighs. When he reached the center of her with passionate kisses, Katrina cried (just as Nova Wildstar had done on this hot afternoon a few kilometers away), "Kazuo! Kazuo, you damn fox! This was a trick, but a nice one! Make me _naked!_ _Please!_ "

"I'll get you out of these when I'm _ready_ to," said Kazuo as he drove her mad.

"If we are seen…how to jutsify this to…the servants?" gasped Katrina as Kazuo driove her out of her mind.

Foxy said, "Princess, we are going to be skinny-dipping, that is…swimming naked in about twenty minutes or so in that pool over there," he said as he got her to look at the pool while he got her panties off. When she put her legs down, and them put them up again, Katrina was both surprised and pleased that she was naked…

…and so was Foxy.

They shared a passionate, hot kiss as he took her without warning. She screamed, "Kazuo! Oh, Ari, Kazuo! KAZUO!"

Katrina braced herself on her toes on the towel as Foxy held her down, kissing her face like mad as he went wild in the act of love as his now longer dark brown hair, wet and cool, flowed over her shoulders like a garment she was not wearing.

Finally, a few minutes of hot, intese joy passed as they climaxed together, with Katrina almost crying…no…she was crying…as Foxy gave her the time of her life.

Then, she fell spent against him and whispered, "I love you, Kazuo…"

"I love you, Princess Invidia," he whispered in her ear. Then, he kissed her earlobe.

At that, she shivered.

**HALF A HOUR LATER….**

They were still undisturbed as Katrina came up from the water with Foxy and sat against the edge of the pool, working knots out of her hair with her hands as she drew up her legs. Her clothing had been scattered to the four winds in their lovemaking, and she had nothing to cover herself with at all. _I do not like others seeing me naked,_ she thought. _I think I am imperfect. I envy so much those women who just pull it all off and sit around in the onsen around others like that,_ she thought as Foxy surprised her from behind with a kiss…and a pure white terrycloth robe.

Kazuo kissed her and helped her into the garment. It came down to above her knees like her discarded sundress, but it felt good against her wet body.

"What do you wish to do today?" said Kazuo with love in his eyes as he slipped on his robe.

"I do not know yet…it is hot, and…I am no…thank you," said Katrina as Foxy kissed her again and slipped a pair of yellow and brown thongs onto her bare feet. She wiggled her toes in them and said, "Now I know why Nova likes these so much. It feels nice to be almost barefoot in the hot weather."

"It does," said Foxy. "So what did you want to do again?"

A moment later, a servant came in with a phone on a tray. It was ringing. "Katrina," he said respectfully with a bow. "It is good we found you. A friend of yours is on the phone."

"I'll take it." Katrina picked up the phone, and was pleased to see Nova on the small screen. _She looks hot_, thought Katrina as she looked at Nova on the screen; her hair was frizzed up, and her face and what she could see of Nova's bare shoulders were dripping with sweat.

"Good day," said Katrina. Winking at her, she said, "And vat sort of catastrophe has happened at the happy Wildstar home to make you look so unfashionable?"

"There was a power failure while we were in space recently and we just got back. The air conditioning is running, but the house is sweltering because it was off for days," Nova said. Then, she said, "I'm making sure this is a closeup, because I don't have _anything on…_sorry I called like this, but Derek wanted me to catch you_._"

"Oh, that sounds cute. I bet Derek likes that." Foxy pushed her aside.

"What is it you are _doing_?" Katrina snapped.

"I want a better look at my former and now honorary cousin," snapped Foxy as he leered at Nova through the screen. "Nova, step back! I want to see _everything_!"

"Foxy, you already know what _I look like_ naked!" Nova snapped. "Remember that trip on your yacht? The onsen or bath there? Alexander _peeing_ on me when I was nursing him?"

"Does he still do that?" asked Foxy as Katrina slapped him.

"He does," Nova said. "Now, Katrina, why did you hit him?"

"He is supposed to leer at me. Not leer at you."

"_Hmph! _He leers at anything that's female," said Nova as she covered her chest with her arms, tilted up her nose, and stepped back a little.

"So why is it that you call?" asked Katrina.

"Derek, my kids, my parents and my kid brother and sister are going to a water park tomorrow on the Miura Peninsula. The place is known as The Blue Water Park and Ryoukan. Are you interested in coming with us?"

"I've heard of the place," said Foxy. "Didn't they expand it a great deal recently?"

"Yes," Nova replied. "Katrina, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Is it that place near Miura Kaigan? That HUGE beach?"

"Yes, but…"

"Nova, I appreciate your kindness, but, you know that I hate the beach, I hate amusement parks, I hate the stupid rides, I hate standing on line, paying for the overpriced greasy food fried on the braziers, and I hate tons of screaming children who are half-dressed and stupid clowns, stupid music, and stupid sand! I thank you, but no…"

Foxy looked at her. "Michelle told me she wants to go and see Jonathan again. I talked with her about it before. Katrina, you can say no, but then that will break her heart."

"You can take her with you, and…"

"She wanted _you_ to take her," said Foxy. "You. She is our adopted child. Do you want to disappoint her? Especially after _all_ she has been through?"

Katrina shook her head, so upset that she almost forgot where she was and Changed in front of Nova on the phone screen as she wanted to make a point to Foxy as her real self. She caught herself just in time, ground her teeth, and said, "All right then. For Michelle, I will do it! Foxy, find me a proper swimsuit to wear tomorrow. Nova, what time do we meet and where do we meet?"

"Our place. 11AM after we get back from church. And thank you. Michelle and Jonathan will be so happy," Nova said. "And Derek and I will be happy. It's been a while…since we've seen you. We've missed you. Take care!"

"Bye, now!" said Foxy. Katrina smiled slightly and waved back feebly.

At her end, Nova hung up. Derek was in the bathroom washing up.

Nova lay back in her nude skin on the carpet, looking up at the ceiling and thinking, _I wonder what's wrong with Katrina? I saw a horrible look on her face for a moment like she wanted to cry…or tell Kazuo or I something? But she seemed to catch herself in a hurry._ Nova paused, putting her feet up on the edge of the couch to wiggle her toes, something she did at times when she was in thought. Derek had been noticing it a lot more lately because, except for some periods on the ship, she had frequently been running around in sandals or bare feet. Nova then thought, _I wish I was psychic like Sasha or Aliscea. If I was, I'd get to the bottom of this one quick. I'm worried about Katrina. What is eating her?_

Nova bit her lip. Then, she heard Derek yelling, "Nova, I'm getting the bath ready for the kids before your mom and dad get home with Jonathan. Wanna come in? After we're done, the house should cool down and we can all get dressed! Got your dress picked out yet for tonight at the steakhouse I am taking all of us to?"

"Yes! And sure!" Nova said_. Another case of the vapors,_ Nova thought._ That's all it is. Just pizza and bull, like Derek has been putting it lately. _

Nova did not know it, but she was far closer to being "psychic" than she thought.

**V. TO THE BLUE WATER! A DAY AT THE PARK**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**The Wildstar Residence**

**April 9, 2208**

**0730 Hours**

"David!" Nova yelled at her little brother as he ran towards the front door, giggling. He was five, going on six. His big sister. Nova, was fresh from the bath with him, and was clothed in a white bathrobe and pink sash…one that she was just getting tied shut, incidentially, fighting a losing battle with the pink belt.

David, on the other hand, wore nothing at all. He made a face at his big sister, giggled, ran up over the couch and vaulted over a chair in his little bare feet, and then he ran for the foyer and the front door. With Nova hot on his heels, since the young woman could run like a cheetah when she was mad enough, little David Forrester flew towards the front door, pivoted past the shoe cabinet, and opened the front door and ran out into the early-morning sun naked to escape his _crazy_ big sister, who would surely turn him in to Mom. He knew his sister could be a tattle-tale, although he was sometimes beginning to realize that a kid could get her to see things a kid's way if you talked to her the right way. He got the sense that sometimes his Mom even put Nova in the doghouse with him and Aurora, which was a bit of a funny way to treat a young grown-up. David knew his Mom had also been crabby a lot lately. He didn't know why.

"Darn it!" Nova mumbled as she stopped before the front door. Securing one of her breasts back in her robe, Nova opened the shoe closet, pulled out a pair of thongs that she kicked her wet bare feet into, and yelled out, "Derek! If you can hear me, one of the older kids is loose! Tell Mom I'll be right back!"

Nova then remembered to get rid of the nail polish remover she had been using on her toes right before David ran off. Then, she ran down the driveway, her flip-flops slapping down the walk like crazy as she ran to catch David, only slightly perturbed about her southern exposure as her robe flew up as she ran, baring her bottom to the world in the heat on an on and off basis.

David was about fifty meters ahead of her, running past the large Wildstar property down the hilly street they lived on

"You can't catch me, slowpoke!" he yelled at his sister.

"Ever run an EDF obstacle course?" Nova yelled. "I'll get you before you know it!"

"That the same thing you do when you catch Derek?" he teased.

"NO COMMENT, KID!" Nova yelled. "And you run so slow that my Aunt Louise, who is seventy-six and lives in Allensburg, Pennsylvania, now, could catch you!"

"Then why can't you catch me?"

"Because you _cheat_!" Nova yelled. She finally ran on the grass with him on someone else's yard. Kicking off her thongs as she ran, Nova got better traction on the grass in her bare feet as she caught up with David at last and tackled him while he yelped in protest.

Immediately, she began to tickle him without mercy as David's yells turned to giggles. Nova had once done the same with Derek, even though when she wrestled with her husband, Nova usually ended up being the one who was tickled (not that she happened to mind most of the time with Derek). David grabbed his sister, pulled her robe wide open with the typical lack of propriety of a five-year old, and he began to tickle her right back. Nova ended up giggling, flailing her legs, and kicking as she tried to pick up her brother under his tummy and get control over him. Even though Nova was very slender, she was in good enough physical condition to be able to bench-press nearly twice her own weight.

Finally, Nova lifted him up and said, "So what do you want, Davy?"

"I want you to put me _down_!" he yelled.

"Going to come home so we can get some clothes on and get church over with so we can go to the water park?" Nova said.

"Only if you dress me in that stupid suit, Nova! I hate when Mom does it! She makes me wear those yucky knee socks! And she ties my shoes too tight!"

"That's the problem, huh?" Nova said. "I'll have to see if we have a nice pair of sneakers or sandals for you in your bags at home, okay? If you do, no socks, and you get to wear sneakers or sandals to church, okay?"

"Yaaaay!" David said as he kissed his sister all over and tickled her belly button before Nova made herself decent again. "You're _cool_, Sis!"

"Thanks, you too," Nova said as she kicked her thongs back on. "Now, let's get you home…"

When Nova got in, Derek was smiling and handing her a crying, diaper-clad Ariel. "Is she hungry again?" Nova said.

"Sounds like it," Derek replied. Nova shrugged, looked around, and let her robe come open again as she gave Ariel a breast.

"Good diagnosis, sir," Nova said. They went up to their bedroom, and while she talked to Derek, Nova switched her from one side to the other as she got out of her robe and let Derek begin getting her ready for church and the water park by helping her into a set of bikini bottoms, and then a light outfit, starting with a white skirt and then a pink sailor top, saying, "I have to go talk with my mother. David ran off because he is staging a protest."

"What kind of protest?" Derek said.

"Over knee socks," Nova replied as she put a fresh coat of polish on her fingernails and toenails while bouncing Ariel around in her lap from one breast to the other as she worked.

"You wearing any?" Derek teased.

"Heck no. I have this nice pair of open-toe pink pumps picked out for church downstairs," Nova said. "Now come over here so I can help you with your tie once Ariel is done," Nova said after she let Ariel take herself off her breast, play with it for a moment, and then Nova burped her while getting a tie for Derek. I swear, you are the biggest of my kids, Space Cowboy," she said with real affection as she mussed up his hair while beginning to button her sundress closed.

"Space Cowboy?" Derek said with amusement while trying to eat a cracker.

"If you call _me_ Peppermint after Peppermint Patty, whom I did not look like at 11, Jere "Brewski" Marrable notwithstanding, I'll call _you _the Cowboy of Outer Space," Nova said back teasingly while securing her husband's tie.

"I saw pictures of you at eleven, your mom showed them to me."

"And?" Nova said.

"You _did_ kind of look like Peppermint Patty, you little tomboy" Derek whispered. "Except that you had no freckles then, your hair was lighter, and even at eleven you were getting nice little bare legs in those shorts and flipflops you had on. _Now_, if you were dressed like that, you'd look _way_ better…"

Nova smiled and kissed her Derek, and then said, "Now we have to decide what to put on Ariel. Any ideas?"

"Something cool. And we need to sit you at the end of the pew again. Don't you have to get up to sing that solo?"

"Almost forgot about that," Nova mused. "Okay, thanks for the reminnder," she said while getting up and taking Ariel into the kids' nursery while looking for a dress for her. Jonathan was already in there, in a suit with shorts, getting Alex dressed in the little version of the EDF blues and peacoat that Nova had made for him. He looked adorable in his little outfit.

Then, David ran in, wearing a black blazer, red tie, white shirt, white shorts, no socks, and sandals. He stood up on tiptoe and said, "Thanks for talking to Mom for me, sis! I'm going to be nice and cool today!"

Aurora ran in, barefoot, but wearing a little white dress trimmed in pink with a scoop collar that looked like a miniature of the dresses Nova sometimes liked. "I'm gonna be cooler! And I have my swimsuit on under this, nyahh nyaaah, nyaaaah nyaaahh!"

"I can't run around in a stupid dress!" yelled David.

"No one's asking ya to," said Jonathan as he pretended to fistfight with his five-year old Uncle by adoption;' since the little kid _was_ his mother's brother, that made David his Uncle and that made him David's nephew.

A few minutes later, they finally ran to church….after Teri got her camera and made Nova pose in her dress and and matching pink open-toed pumps on a blanket in the front yard, first by herself and then with her brother and sister and then Derek and her children. With that done, and another set of pictures ready for the Forrester and Wildstar family albums, the Forresters got into their minivan while Derek and Nova got Alex and Ariel into their car seats in Derek's Mustang, this time out. It was red and white while Nova's car was yellow with black markings.

"We need to get a bigger car, Derek," Nova said while crawling around in the backseat getting Alex secured in his car seat. "It's tight back here."

"I was thinking the same thing, Nova. I'd like a GT model Mustang, but what do you want?"

Nova sighed. "Well, since I guess I have to get the so-called family sedan, I'd like one of the new models from Subaru. Maybe the Starblaze or the Neo-Impreza. The Neo-Impreza was based on a classic car from the early 21st Century; one of the last of the old piston-engine cars that ran on gasoline. The new one's supposed to be kind of similar even though it has a fusion drive cell like everything else that is built these days."

Then, a moment later, a car pulled up in the driveway. No one was expecting them, but when the car stopped, they noticed Foxy getting out (in a ridiculous powder-blue tux with dark blue pants and a walking stick). Katrina followed him, grumbling in a black sundress, sandals, and a white hat. "Damn you, Kazuo! You had to pressure me to dress weird for that water park!"

"What do you mean dress weird?" Nova asked. "You look normal."

"Under my clothes, I have on this _ridiculous_ swimming garment that is too tight, exposes my stomach, and makes me look like I am half-naked! I look like some barbarian under my dress, Nova! Some kind of barbarian who should be swinging _axe_ around!"

"Me too," said Nova as she casually lifted her skirt to show off her pink bikini bottom. "It's called a bikini, Katrina, and it's very cute. You saw me in one a bit on the yacht, if you remember."

"What does the top look like?" Katrina asked.

"I'm not wearing it right now," Nova said. "In case one of the kids…uh…gets hungry again. I'm putting it on when we get back, right before we leave. Why is it so hot today? _Whew_!" Nova said as she wiped sweat off her brow. "So what did Foxy promise you to make you wear a bikini, Katrina?"

"I negotiated hard and I made him promise me a second long honeymoon later this summer," Katrina said. "Nova, you seem good at finding places to go. Could you help me with this?"

"Possibly," Nova said. "We'll talk later. We have to run now."

Katrina nodded, then turned to Foxy and said, "If you want me to do anything else that is stupid, you owe me _big time_, big man!"

"We'll see…" said Foxy.

In the church, Katrina found herself grumbling again after one of the prayers as she got off the kneeler and onto the pew. She fanned herself with the program while Father Likanski went on with, "And now, we shall begin with the offertory hymn, "_A Mighty Fortress is Our God_" while we take the collection. Then, we will pause before the homily for our first solo."

"Which is my cue to go," Nova said as she handed Derek Ariel and opened her purse and pulled out two bills from her subdued pink wallet. "Give them forty, Derek. The starving children of Australia need it," she said as the hymn began. Nova kissed Derek on the cheek and slipped out of the pew.

"Now we begin singing," whispered Teri as she opened her hymnal. Katrina gritted her teeth a little as Teri Forrester sang. She had a low soprano voice that set one's teeth on edge as she sang. She was good, but she had a tendency to show off.

Finally, after the ushers came along with their baskets, two of the altar boys pushed a large grand piano up into the space before the altar. Someone brought a bench; Nova sat down behind the piano and tapped the mike carefully as she kicked off her shoes, put her bare feet on the sustain pedals, and began to make ready to play.

"Now that we have received our offering," Father Likanski said, "Here to bless us today with a solo is Lieutenant Commander Nova Wildstar, who will play and sing "_Turn Back O Man: Forswear Thy Foolish Ways.."_ from the Gospel Musical Godspell. Mrs. Wildstar…"

To some applause, Nova ran a glissando down the keyboard as she then started into a somewhat syncopated number that sounded like a 1920's honky-tonk song as she banged out the chords and added jazzy improvization as she flashed a smile before she began to sing, "_Turn Back…O man…Forswear They Foolish Ways…..Old Now is Earth and none may count her Days…_" Then, Nova paused to sing a quiet, sultry scat as she sang, "_da da da daa da…Yet Thou, her Child…_"

Derek smiled at the hymn as Foxy listened and said, "Michelle…she's far better than I thought."

"Of course she's good," Teri huffed. "If it wasn't for the Gamilons, I would have made her go to Julliard School of Music in New York!"

"What's that?" said Katrina.

"Just one of the top ten performing arts colleges in the world!" snapped Teri. "It was that, Yale, or Tokyo Imperial University, or…damn the war! Damn the Gamilons, and God Damn the Comet Empire!" Teri snapped.

"Mother, calm down…your blood pressure," said Karl as Katrina gritted her teeth, thinking, _They don't mean to, but all they do is humiliate me! Them, that damn Caella, Radnar…sometimes I wish they'd all die!_

Katrina then listened as a line came up from Nova's song, "_…age after age their tragic Empires Rise…"_ that hit her in her heart. She then thought, _There will come a day when Earth realizes what we are planning for it; and everyone will then see how wise it will be when they become part of a greater whole…times will be better. But why did I not see that then? I should have never joined with Ekogaru. Never. I hope I never see him again nor hear from him…._

At that, Invidia felt a deep, frightening cold that came from her ankles and wound over her whole body as the music seemed to falter and the church seemed to be filled with an eerie fog. "Foxy…please…" she said as she hugged Kazuo with an intensity that scared him.

"What is it?" he said.

"He's watching us….it's _him_," she whispered in his ear. "He's not dead…he's here on _Earth _somewhere!"

"Where? Who?" said Foxy as Nova continued to sing and play up front, ending the song with "_Forswear Thy Foolish Ways!" _as she did a run down the keyboard with her elbow and then bowed to applause as she kicked her shoes back on, bowed again, and ran up the aisle to Derek, looking eeirely framed with light for a moment as the piano was pushed away.

The feeling of the Dark One's presence passed as Foxy hugged Katrina and Nova reappeared, throwing back her hair. "That was a good one."

"You did great," said Derek as they kissed.

"That piano needs tuning," Nova said as she sat down. They got up again a moment later to begin a prayer of contrition as the service went on…

Katrina was not terribly interested. She just wanted to get out of here.

Finally, they got back to the Wildstar residence. There, they changed.

In her bedroom, Nova stripped out of her clothes, down to the loose pink bikini bottoms she wore as underclothes. Nova giggled as Derek tickled her after he had changed into black swim briefs and thongs. "Would you stop that?" she laughed. "I'm trying to get _dressed_!"

"Go like that," Derek said. "Your breasts look delicious this morning…"

"Derek, it's a chidren's water park! I don't think so," she said as she put on her matching string halter top in pink. Nova's mother then popped into the room, leading Aurora by the hand. Teri Forrester wore a dark green bikini, while little Aurora had on a baby-blue bikini. "What are you putting on Alexander and Ariel?" asked Teri.

"Diapers and those little swimsuits we got them," Nova said as she ran into the nursery and came back with Ariel. Ariel giggled as she was stripped out of her diaper, put into a fresh one, and clothed in her tiny pink bottoms. Derek was playing with Alex, who was already in his swimsuit.

In the meantime, Katrina had changed into her black bikini and thong sandals, but she was looking hard at Kazuo. Foxy, despite his protests that he was still skinny, had worked out a bit over the past few months and filled out a bit more; he looked…foxy…to Katrina in his blue swim briefs. "I need a cover-up!" she snapped. "This black thing should be fine," she said as she pulled on a short slip dress that left her legs very bare. "It barely covers my legs, but…."

"So what?" said Foxy. "You have nice legs."

"What is that bulge in your swimsuit?" asked Katrina.

"This?" said Foxy. "Katrina, you know what this is…it's my…"

"That's in your middle. I'm talking about the one to the left…"

"It's that holy oil I carry around efery day," said Foxy in a whisper. "In case _he_ ever comes back."

Katrina shivered and cuddled up next to Foxy. "I felt him the other day. You owe me big time for going out to this park in this swimsuit," said Katrina. "This almost non-existent bit of barbarian clothing. My Arishna, this must be too damn popular. Even Nova's damn _mother _has one on!"

"It's hot…it's never been this hot on Earth before…not since the Gamilon War, where we had to go underground. So, remember…think about who caused that Cometine War the next time you complain about it," Foxy whispered. Then, he whispered in her ear, "Remember that…_Princess_…"

Katrina nodded and let Foxy kiss her. Then, they began to make ready to leave.

**FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER…**

"Turn left at Kiyaama Road, head up to Route 278," said the GPS unit in the dashboard of Derek Wildstar's Mustang as it was beginning to become obvious to Nova, who sat beside him in the other front bucket seat, that they were going around the Southern outskirts of the Megalopolis in circles.

"Yeah, yeah," said Derek. "Left at Kiyaama Road," he said, making a left turn.

"Watch out for the exit, Derek…it's tricky," said Nova as she wiggled her toes in the carpet of the car. Knowing she'd be on and off rides all day, she had decided to go barefoot (the grounds of the park were mostly covered in sand and grass) as she looked back at the passengers in the smallish back seat of the car. "Are you OK back there?"

"Yeah," said Jonathan, whose fifteen-year old form was crammed against the cushined armrest.

"I'm OK," said Foxy, who sat with Katrina on his lap, next to Michelle.

Michelle remained quiet as she stretched out in her bikini, but Katrina said, "NO! I am not all right! I am hot! I sweat! You can see my breasts in this stupid itching swimsuit and top! My toes itch and I cannot even reach them to scratch! My hair itches! I itch all over!"

"It'll feel better once we hit that water," said Nova soothingly as she looked in the rearview mirror on her side of the car, seeing her parents following them in the minivan with their youngest children and Aurora and David. Then, she looked at a sign flashing by as Derek pulled off the exit ramp onto Route 278 and she yelled, "DEREK! We're going NORTH. We were supposed to be going SOUTH!"

"Nova, I hit the right damn exit!" he snapped.

"No you didn't…the Southbound exit was the next one after the light! And we've been there twice before!"

"The GPS is wrong! It told me to turn there!"

"Darn you," Nova huffed. "Get off at the next exit, go to the heavy water station…"

"Heavy water station?" said Katrina.

Nova quickly explained. "Cars on Earth used to run on a kind of oil called gasoline. It is now barely used anymore since we have electric fusion drives in vehicles. But those vehicles' fusion cells need Tritium to run, so we have to fill up the heavy water tank at a station with a cracker in the pump. You pay money for it, and the marketing looks like the ancient gas stations on Earth. Derek, pull over here at the Koshiki Station…"

Derek growled and drive right past it. "Derek!" Nova yelled. "BAKA!" she snapped in Japanese.

"What is dat word?" said Katrina.

"She just called him an idiot," giggled Michelle. "And that's what he is! The great Commodore who won all those battles gets lost driving!"

"Derek, pull over," Nova huffed. ""Right here at that rest area on this pike," Nova said.

"Huh?"

"Get out, I'm driving," she snapped. "I know how to get us there…without the GPS," she said as she turned it off.

"Uh-oh," said Derek as he stopped the car. "Use the Force, Luke. The Force is strong within you, Nova. It enables you to lift up car with your mind," he said in a weird, nasal, voice that, to Katrina, sounded really idiotic."

"Yoda, get out and take the passenger seat," Nova sighed as she yelled a little while her bare feet hit the hot asphalt. She got into the drivers' seat, adjusted her top (it was beginning to slip a bit) and got into her shoulder harness, signalled confidently for a left turn, and got onto the entrance ramp for 278 South with little fuss. There, she accelerated up to 110 kilometers per hour, got in the middle lane (watching to be sure her parents were behind her) and then said, "Three exits to the place. It's on Mikasa Pike near the sea. We'll be there soon; get ready,"she said as she turned on the radio and found a classic rock station.

In his seat, Derek grumbled and thought, _Nova why do you always have to be right? I love ya, but I hope something happens soon to make __you__ look like a __baka!_

They were at the Park in fifteen minutes. But, after parking their vehicles, they had to get on a long line to buy tickets.

That line was now longer than anyone of them had thought; and they had been in it for more than half an hour now.

They were now all hot, sweaty, and miserable in the sun. Alex was in a small stroller being pushed by his mother, and he was hot and fussing. Derek was holding Ariel, who was so fussy she was grabbing at her father's breasts!

Especially Nova, who was covered in sweat and whose hair looked as frizzy and messy as a drowned rat's hair. She barely even looked like herself as she kept on pushing her sweaty bangs off of her forehead.

She looked tired and horrible.

"Sure you're OK?" Derek asked compassionately as they tried to block out the sound of Katrina's complaining. Said complaining was now non-stop.

"I'm hot," Nova said. "This was a bad, bad idea." Then, she looked down at herself. "And my swimsuit top is now useless. Look!"

"Yeah…you're…sweating right through it; we can see everything," he said compassionately; Nova's top was now practically see-through, and her bottoms were also rapidly getting the same way. "Maybe you should have brought a coverup."

"Derek, I'm sorry I called you an idiot. This must be my payback for that," she said. "Why don't we just go home?" she sighed. "I can just strip and get into the Jacuzzi with the kids. That stupid sign up by the gates says you have to have your top on, too. Must be because of the kids…I wish this place was in the South of France! Then I would not have to bother with this stupid, stupid bikini top on a hundred plus degree day! I want ice cream!" Nova almost sobbed.

"Good that you are miserable," laughed Katrina. "I have been miserable most of the day, Mrs. Cheerful! Now we friends get to be miserable together on this barbarian planet! And Foxy owes me a second honeymoon and week of breakfast in bed now!"

"A week?" said Foxy.

"Yes. Be glad I do not make it month," Katrina snapped. "I hate this place! Michelle, Nova, I WANT TO GO HOME! Blame Baka Derek there for getting us lost!"

Nova sighed, "I''ll go ask my mom…."

"Take her," Derek said. "She wants something…something only you can give."

Nova blushed, loosened her top a little, and gave Ariel her breast as she walked up to her mother.

"NO, we are NOT going home!" Teri yelled at David as Nova approached as they got closer to the gates.

"Why not?" Nova said. "Mom, we're all miserable. Derek screwed things up by making us late. We should have been here before the rush. Let's do this another day, and _I'm _driving."

"But I paid for all of us already on the computer," Teri whined. "I…I wanted to surprise you," she sniffed as she began to cry. "I paid for everyone and just have to show the receipt. I'll be out over five hundred credits if we go home now!"

Then, to make things worse, a guard came up to Nova and said, "Miss, I'm very sorry, but you have to cover up."

"Excuse me?" Nova said.

"This is a family park. We only go topfree or clothes optional when it is very hot," he said, pointing at an electronic sign that read "FULL SWIMWEAR REQUIRED FOR ADMISSION." He then said, "I guess your child is hungry, but couldn't you have done that in the car?"

"Section 503 of the Health and Welfare Act makes this perfectly legal," Nova said with a sigh. "And my baby is hungry, thirsty, and hot in this line. Would you discriminate against a mother who needs to feed her babies?"

"I guess you're right," said the guard. "But cover your breasts the moment you finish with your baby, Miss."

Nova nodded once and they went into the gate. Thus, none of them saw the sign quickly changing from "FULL SWIMWEAR…" to "CLOTHING OPTIONAL—PLEASE USE PROPRIETY AND COMMON SENSE…"

Forty-five minutes later, Katrina and Foxy were on their third ride.

Katrina was laughing now. Part of it was embarrasment, because she had been forced to shed her cover-up (the ride, a long water slide, did not allow you to wear them).

She wondered why, given the lecture the guard had given Nova, why some little kids got onto the ride stark naked and went down the ride giggling their heads off with no one saying anything. Then, she saw a topless young mother holding her baby against her as she went down the curvy, splashy slide.

"Our turn," said Foxy as he helped Katrina step onto the slide. Derek and Nova were a little ahead of them, and Katrina could hear Nova screaming as she went down the slide holding Alex.

A moment later, it was their turn.

Foxy held Katrina as they went down the slide, yelling, screaming, and getting very, very _very_ wet!

Foxy could not help noticing that the wetter they got…the more Katrina's bikini clung to every curve.

Her breasts bounced around in a most enticing way as water flew into her face. Katrina put her hands over her faace and screamed, "This water is blinding me! Foxy, you will be punished for this! I assure you! YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!"

"Oh, will I be punished now?" said Foxy.

"Yes! This is cruel and unusual treatment!" she screamed. She whispered in his ear, "I never even did _zis_ to prisoners on the Comet!"

"You told me about the Sphere of Joy," he whispered back.

"Yes, but that did not masquerade as _fun ride_!" Katrina whispered back into his ear. "When you vent in these, you _knew_ that was torture chamber! I just figured it out! Amusement park is Terran eumphemism for torture chamber!"

Foxy looked down (they had about two more levels to shoot down) and said, "I see Nova smiling! She's screaming and she looks like she is having fun."

"Weird silly woman! She probably thinks Sphere of Joy is amusement park ride like stupid bumper car boats you made me drive! What is the point of getting wet in collisions?"

They heard another scream and saw Nova grabbing fiercely at some pink blur. Then, Foxy laughed as he realized the pink blur had been her bikini top! Given the choice between hanging on the baby Alex and her top, Nova had tenderly chosen to protect her son.

Katrina and Foxy screamed more as they reached the end of the ride. When they did, the waterfall in the slide threw Katrina out towards a patch of wet sand as Foxy held her. She also lost clothing as a flip-flop flew off her foot and tumbled under some of the machinery that ran the ride.. Then, she looked down at herself and saw how her bikini was clinging to her, and she screamed. "KAZUO! I must dry off! And find my _shoe_!"

Then, Katrina landed on her butt in the sand, minus her other sandal, which fell down into a pool of water, floated there, and then sank like a ship.. She dug her toes into the wet sand and began to just cry softly, because this was turning out to be a _miserable_ day!

A few minutes later, a hot, inviting stretch of beach at Miura Kaigun beckoned as Katrina sat down on a towel, wincing because she had to go barefoot. She sat near Nova, who had her arms up and was sighing because it was hot, and because she was now topless. "Katrina, I feel like crap," Nova said. "Derek, you couldn't get them to find my top? Or Katrina's sandals?"

"No, they said they'd have to shut down the whole ride and we'd get a bill for fifty thousand credits," muttered Derek. "Well, Nova, at least they changed the dress regulations; you aren't the only topless girl on this beach…if that helps any!"

"I got that bikini for _you_, Derek, I didn't want to be topless today!" Nova said in a miserable voice close to a sob. "Mother, we've had enough!" Nova snapped at Teri. "This park is a house of horrors today! I want to go home and take a long, long swim in my _own pool_ wiith no one gawking at me!"

'"I won't gawk, Mom," said Jonathan in a soft voice as he kissed Nova's shoulder.

"You're a good kid…thank you!" Nova said as she hugged her adopted son for a moment. Then, she began to cry, and before Derek could get over, Jonathan tenderly rocked his mother back and forth in his arms…until his father took over, pulling Nova onto his lap as he comforted her.

"Foxy?" demanded Katrina. "FOXY! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I would have paid them a hundred thousand to get your things back," said Foxy. "I also tried four stands to find you flip-flops! What is with this place? A damn water park that is out of rubber sandals?"

"Too crowded," sighed Karl Forrester as he looked at Teri. "Mother, Nova's right. The girl's good a good head on her shoulders like your sister Louise. We won't mention the other one who went batty before she died! Let's

get out of here!"

"Aww, Dad, I'm having _fun!_" said David as he sat in the sand with a bucket digging a huge hole. He was _really_ enjoying the sand, because he had stripped off his swim trunks and was enjoying the beach naked.

"It's hot and yucky here and there are bugs and I _hate_ the place!" yelled Aurora as she hugged her big sister. "David, you are yucky! And Mom is yucky!"

"I love you, dear little one," said Katrina to Aurora in a miserable voice.

"Why, Auntie Trina?" said Aurora.

"Because you are right, and some other people here are wrong! This beach is hotter than a desert planet! Rikasha would be more pleasant than dis _beach!_"

Nova sighed, got her drink, and she began to just throw ice from her cup of Pepsi all over herself!

"Nova, why are you doing that?" said Derek.

"Derek, I'm melting in this damned heat!," she sobbed. "Mom, unless you come up with something logical in the next fifteen minutes, I am leaving here with my family and my friends and leaving you alone!"

"You know, you look misrerable," Derek said.

"Thanks," sobbed Nova,. "When did _you notice_, Derek Wildstar?"

"I've noticed for a while," he said.

"Good," Nova said. "Find me a hose or a kid with a Super Soaker. I want to be wet."

"There's always the ocean," said Foxy. "You could go swimming."

"The way I feel, I'd probably _drown_," Nova snapped. She threw more ice on herself and tried to keep from crying.

Them, Teri looked at her and said, "Nova, want those bottoms off too? Derek or I can put some ice on your bare tush. Trust me, it might help."

Now, Nova could not quite believe this one. _I've already lost my top, and now Mom wants me to take my bottoms off, too? That's a switch…wait, she was telling me to just undress in church that time when the babies were hungry?_

"Derek?" said Nova. "Mom's right. I'm sweltering, and we need to change the kids' swimsuits and diapers. Mind if I…strip?"

Derek looked in the distance; a bunch of giggling teenage girls was running up the beach towards the hot-spring area. Some were already naked, one or two were topless, and one girl was opening up her _yukata_ as she ran. He looked over at the beach, and noticed a that a tanned, tall, statuesque beauty of a woman was hauling her surfboard up out of the ocean; and she was as naked as a newborn.

Derek then said, "Honey, if you're more comfortable in the nude, then go right ahead and take off your bottoms. I'm so sorry..I know yo wanted to dress nice for me, but I agree with your Mother for once. I can't have you melting due to heatstroke!"

"Thanks," said Nova as she threw more ice over herself. A moment later, hot and again blushing as she watched Derek's and Foxy's eyes on her, Nova demurely reached down to her right side, pulled on the single knot that held her draped bikini bottoms closed, and quickly pulled off the garment, throwing more chunks of ice onto her upper thighs as she finally sat there totally nude. She put a hand to her head pushing her hair off of her forehead as she crossed her legs in the sand for what modesty she had left while she said, "Well, Mom, this feels somewhat better, but I'm _still_ hot. But I can't take my own skin off, so this is the best I'm going to get. Derek sat down near her with Alex as he set him in her lap while Nova undressed the baby boy and gave him a breast. Derek then said, "Foxy, spread out a towel! I'm picking her up for a minute!"

Derek scopped up a laughing Nova into his arms as she fed their son. Nova weighed about 124 pounds and Alex weighed maybe 19 pounds. The combined weight of his nude wife and son in his arms was not that great. As a keepsake, one day, Teri had photographed Derek holding Nova, Alex, and Ariel in his lap (all of them nude from the bath and wet, but they had been hungry; Nova had had both breasts occupied at the time) and he remembered the three of them had not been that hard to pick up. One day he had carried a sleeping mother and children to bed together like that, and he had fallen asleep with them tenderly cuddling most of his family in his arms. When he had awakened, he had found that Jonathan had joined them, clad in just a _fundoshi_. He wished he would have had a camera then, and he wished he had one now until Teri took a picture.

When Foxy spread out the towel with Katrina's help, Derek lay Nova back down with a kiss for both his wife and son. Foxy kissed the top of the young mother's head, and Katrina smiled at Nova and kissed her, tenderly helping Derek put ice and suntan lotion on both Nova's and Alex's bodies, even smiling as the cute baby boy wiggled his toes and kissed her hand. It made Katrina feel a little better to help Nova and Alex like that. Then, a moment later, she went over to Michelle, kissed her, and began to rub her down all over with suntan lotion. Foxy came over and helped, and as they rubbed the oil on Michelle's back, their hands met, and Foxy gave Katrina that look that made her just melt. Katrina smiled back a little, and said to Foxy, "I may forgive you for this. But you need to do something romantic to me…"

"What is that?"

"Dinner…breakfast in bed…skinny-dipping at Foxworth Manor during a servants' meeting!"

"I've got something better in mind, Katrina. Another ride."

"Not stupid aumsement park torture rides again that make you wet and eat clothes! Vat! You want me naked like her in public next?" she said as she gestured at Nova. "You want to throw water and the ice from drink on me next? Think again, young fox!"

Nova and Derek ignored them, laughing as Derek dumped a bottle of cold spring water from Mrs. Forrester's cooler all over Nova, Alex, and now Ariel. None of them had anything on now, and they were all laughing their heads off.

Katrina looked at Foxy and said, "Where do you want to go?"

"Tunnel of Love," leered Foxy. Then, he yelled out, "Hey,Nova! Wanna go in the Tunnel of Love?"

"Yes, but not with _you_!" she yelled out, laughing as Derek grabbed her feet and was mercilessly tickling her toes. Teri got up with her camera and got a photograph of her daughter getting her feet tickled while she lay there with her eyes closed and tears of laughter running down her smiling face that would end up in an a fine book she would do that would feature modeling pictures, largely of Nova and Sasha. Nova then collected herself and yelled out, "For God's sake, Foxy, take Katrina! Derek will take me if he can get my bottom back on me! Mom, let the kids play in the sand, and then let's all go to our place and we can all just have a pool party! I'll order pizza and lots of soda! Okay?"

"What about swimsuit?" said Katrina.

"I have a nice black one-piece that would fit you," Nova said as Derek kissed her and put on her bottoms again while he whispered in her ear, "Soon, Nova, these are coming back off you. When you are stuck with me in the dark! Bwa hahahahahahahaha!"

"Calm down, monster," Nova giggled as she slapped Derek's wrist. "Remember, not in front of the kids! At least the ones who are old enough to know what is going on…"

"Are we going in the Tunnel?" said Foxy to Katrina.

"You owe me even bigger time, but, okay! I see what ride is about! If I do not like, you wait on me hand and foot for the next _two weeks_!"

"Yes' ma'am…" said Foxy.

**VI. THE DARK TUNNEL OF LOVE**

**The Miura Peninsula**

**Blue Water Park and Ryoukan**

**April 9, 2208**

**1413 Hours**

Nova and Derek were the first ones in line heading towards the Tunnel of Love. Nova now wore a cropped T-shirt in white over her breasts that had on it a slogan that read _**I'M MELTING!**_ She had bought the shirt under the logical assumption that she would not be allowed in the Tunnel with Derek half-naked; and she was right; the attendants sent away quite a few half-naked (mostly teenage) couples whose intent on riding the ride was quite obvious.

Nova and Derek were let on first, getting into a little white boat that looked like a swan as they kissed and vanished into the darkness of the ride through a gate shaped to look like a big heart.

"So what is the purpose of the ride, anyway?" said Katrina. "Looks stupid."

"The idea," said Foxy, "Is that this is sort of like a horror movie. The boat, with you and your partner in it, goes down into this dark tunnel filled with creepy music and things and noises that are supposed to be scary. Figures of Monsters, Skeletons, Japanese Demons, Creeps, Frankenstein Monsters, Vampires, Werewolves, Melvins, Rat-Men, Ghosts, Bat-Boys, Rabid Kittens and Bunnies, Ghouls, Zombies, Tigger-Tigers and other such Living Dead things. They are supposed to make you scared. While you get scared, you hang on to me for comfort and scream." As if on cue, they heard Nova screaming deep in the ride for a moment. "And then I hug you. Sometimes they make the boat slow down and you can kiss and neck. Sometimes it slows down more and you can pet. Sometimes it stops and you can heavy-pet or even do It in a quickie if you are brave enough. That is the point of the ride. I want to be romantic with you in some chaos! Please?"

"Not my place for romance," huffed an angry and miffed Katrina. "Too young-girlie for me. Nova and Michelle would love this place with their sweeties…if Michelle has met a sweetie yet at that restaurant she is starting to work at as waitress part-time. Don't know about myself."

"Please?" said Foxy. "I'll give you whatever you want!"

"All right," said Katrina. "I do it. Just once. Then that is _it_!"

Katrina and Foxy got on line for the ride.

**FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER…**

Nova was shivering against Derek as he cuddled her, protecting her from the "danger" as a weird voice from nowhere began to recite some demented poem, that sounded like a kooky voice saying, _"…There's no eartlhly way of knowing….which direction we are going…_" while weird colored lights like those of a space warp floated around with holograms of skulls and such icky things as worms crawling over people's faces and a chicken getting its head cut off as demented laughter came from everywhere accompanied by weird music and goofy noises. Unaccountably, something like a giant clown's horn honked as Nova cuddled up against Derek, laughing as he hugged her and then ran his hands up under her little cropped T-shirt, teasing her breasts and nipples in the dark as they kissed.

A few boats away, riding in a boat that looked like a giant snail, Katrina was allowing Foxy to hug her as she wanted her eyes hidden from the bizarre sights and sounds of this strange place. He ran his hands up and down her back, kissing her like mad as she whispered, "I want out of here…this is like a bad space warp, please, please, please!"

"Please please you?" said Foxy in her ear…as he began to run his hands down under the waistband of her bikini pants.

"Foxy…I don't know whether I want to whisper in your ear or slap you! This place is too _weird!_"

The strange laughter and the weird voice came up again as the Voice said, _"…..there's no way of knowing which way we're rowing…or which way the river's flowing_!"

As Katrina cuddled against Foxy, part of her bikini top slipped, and one of her breasts came out in the dark. She began to shiver with a strange coldness mixed with excitement as Foxy observed her discomfiture and began to kiss her there. Almost against her will, Katrina began to moan. "Now I begin to understand weird ride…but do not go too far…I…"

"You what?" whispered Foxy as the weird voice continued with, _"…..is it raining…is it snowing..is a hurricane a-blowing?_"

In their boat, Nova was a little more forward, since Derek had stripped her entirely of her top in the dark, and she was laughing softly, mostly giggling at the howls and flashing lights as she put her leg up in the boat, pointed her bare toes like a dancer, and her breathing began to speed up as Derek popped open the knot on her bikini panties as she wiggled her toes with pleasure and whispered, "Derek, you pervert!" in a laughing voice.

"What you want Igor to dooo to you, lady?" Derek said in a weird Peter Lorre-type voice.

"Leave me alone!" Nova giggled."No! Yes! Stop! Help! Yes!" Nova laughed as the sound of a howling wolf came over the PA as she realized their boat had stopped somewhere in the dark as a cool fog drifted in. The "fog" from a fog machine felt good on Nova's body, as she suddenly realized Derek had her bottoms…wide open in the dark. In the nude, but not at all physically hot (although Derek was making her hot in another sense that was altogether different), Nova decided to go along with this, praying that no one caught their stolen moment of joy down in this thing as Derek climbed on top of her in the car and she helped him get rid of his swim trunks as they hunkered down in the seat, intoxicated with each other in a naughty quickie.

The weird voice (which Derek figured was just the PA) got louder as it recited, _"….not a speck of light is showing…so the danger must be growing…._"

In their car, Katrina dimly glimpsed two boats ahead of them for a minute as a strange lightning-like flash of light came and she could see down into the tunnel…she saw two cars…one was a Swan, and she thought she could see Nova's legs flying up for a moment in ecstacy as something like a blue light appeared before her, and a weird, dragging Voice that sounded different from the PA system said, "**Remember ME, Katrina, Love?"**

"Foxy!" screamed Katrina. "It talked to me! Listen! It talked to me! Please stop! It…"

"Stop what?" said Foxy.

Then, Katrina cuddled against him, at the point of tears. "I'm cold…so cold…like death…like Hell," she said as she suddenly realized her bikini top seemed to have become far too large for her on its own. It fell down to her waist, baring her breasts as she cowered against him in the dark. Her bare toes curled against the bottom of the boat as she felt miserable, cold, and exposed, and the feeling grew worse as she felt her bottoms beginning to slip off her. Foxy held her close, putting a hand over her suddenly half-bare bottom in the boat as he held her close and yelled, "Okay, assholes! Stop these weird tricks! She's not turned on by this! She's miserable…she's…"

Then, they heard Nova screaming in the dark.

Derek had just taken her, and they lay together in the boat, writhing in their hot, unexpected joy, as something like a black fog appeared over them.

Then, it turned into a black cloud as strange chords played on somewhere in the Tunnel.

It began to grow cool, and then cold.

They went on for a bit, thinking it was an effect of the ride as Nova threw her head back and cried out softly in joy and love as Derek and she made music together while she cuddled passionatley against him for warmth. But, Nova's joy at being made love to by Derek turned to rank fear as something like a weird light came from the cloud…and organ chords began to sound

, and, as the strange Voice said, "….while the Fires of Hell are Blowing…is the Grisly Reaper Mowing? YES! The danger must be GROWING! AND GUESS WHAT? IT IS GROWING!** Remember ME, Nova, dear? YOU and Katrina? You're both trapped! And I HAVE BOTH OF YOU RIGHT WHERE THE HELL I WANT YOU AND YOUR ANIMAL MATES!"**

Nova recognized the weird organ music as she sat up, covered from head to toe with goosebumps, and shocked Derek by waving her fist at the dark and screaming, "You BASTARD! Ekogaru, come out and _**show yourself! Then leave my husband and I alone!"**_ as the _Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor_ filled the Tunnel of Love with chaos and noise.

Then, weird organ chords blasted as, behind them, the couple in the other boat, which looked like a turtle, who were also making love, screamed as something like a Spectre came out began to strangle the poor man, beating him with a spectral fist…beating him bloody as the emergency lights came up. Nova and Derek quickly dressed in their scanty clothes and then splashed out of the boat, half-running, half-swimming to the next boat as the Spectral Form of the Dark Lord Ekogaru was close to claiming another victim.

Not sure why he was doing this, as if controlled by another force from elsewhere, Derek impulsively gave Nova a foot up into the boat, and she then balanced on her toes on the boat's bow and yelled, "Ekogaru! You want me? Come and try it! Come and _get_ me! You told me you're scared of me! I have no idea why, but…"

"**Nova, dear, you and I know that the time for our last confrontation is years away. No, DECADES AWAY!.MARK THIS WELL, BITCH! THE NIGHT ALISCEA OF PELLIAS DIES IS THE NIGHT I TAKE YOU TO HELL WITH HER! AND THAT IS GOING TO BE IT FOR YOUR WORLD, SINCE THEN I WILL HAVE HER MATRIX! AND WHAT CAN YOU DO TO ME WHEN I WIELD THE POWER AND I TAKE FROM YOU YOUR THRONE?"**

"_Throne_?' Nova said, utterly confused. "I plan to be a surgeon. I don't intend to be ruler of anything. I'm so sorry, but I do not have an inflated ego like yours!"

"**BITCH! DAMN YOU! THE NIGHT I DEAL WITH ALISCEA, IS WHEN YOU GET TOO NOSY FOR YOUR OWN GOOD AND I RAM FIRE THROUGH YOUR HEART! THEN I WILL RAM FIRE THROUGH THE CORE OF YOUR EARTH AND DESTROY IT AFTER I DISGRACE YOUR WORLD'S MEMORY! BUT GUESS WHAT? I WILL LEAVE THIS ONE ALONE, BECAUSE I WANT YOUR FRIEND! WOULDN'T YOU LOVE TO KNOW HER TRUE NAME AND FACE, LITTLE NAKED APE-DESCENDANT SLIMEBALLS?"**

"Her name is Katrina!" snapped Derek. "Let that poor woman be!"

Ekogaru just laughed like mad as he leered at Derek and Nova with a skull-face unparalled in its ugliness as he floated off to the fog surrounding Foxy and Invidia's car.

Katrina had been cowering against Foxy, now naked, as she heard the Dark One's hated voice taunting Nova and Derek.

Suddenly, he came to her, and leered at her and Foxy. "**GOOD AFTERNOON, CRAPHEADS! LIKE MY RIDE?"**

"NO!" Katrina yelled back. "Ekogaru, you know who I am! I am _through_ dealing with you!"

**"Kazuo, leave her be and say goodbye to her now!"** demanded Ekogaru. "**You are nothing compared to me!"**

"Like hell!" yelled Foxy as he clothed Katrina again in her bikini and kissed her. Then, he turned to Ekogaru and removed a small vial from his swim trunks. "Remember our wedding night, _bastard_?" hissed Foxy. "I always carry this now! Always! That oil that Nova and Wildstar gave me. It is holy. _**And you hated it. Didn't you**_?"

"**I did, but it matters nothing to you, human! LEAVE! SHE IS MINE!" **

"No, she is MINE!" Kazuo yelled as he kissed Katrina, and then threw the vial of oil against Ekogaru's spirit.

The spectre screamed, writhed, and then vanished, just as Foxy and Katrina saw Derek and Nova climbing up into the car to check them, along with some of the ride attendants.

"I am so frightened!" said Katrina as she cried and bawled. "But, Foxy, you made him leave! I was angry at you, but now, I LOVE YOU! TAKE US OUT OF HERE!"

"We will," said Derek. "Nova, shall we let them stay at our place tonight?"

Nova nodded. "It will be crowded, but you're welcome any time. Derek, there's the police….we need to talk to them. I checked that young man in the other car," she said.

"I forgot about him in the chaos…how is he?"

"Derek, he's _dead_!" Nova said as she cowered against her husband and joined Katrina in weeping. Then, Nova motioned for Katrina to come close in the car, and Nova held Katrina as they cried together, held by Derek and by Foxy as the men also began to cry."

"Nova, I thought I was about to lose you," sobbed Derek. "He said all of those horrible things…"

"He said same to us," said Katrina as she coughed as she cried. Derek then helped Foxy comfort her as he comforted both Nova and Katrina at the same time, and whispered, "Nova…it's okay…Katrina…it's fine…you're safe…thank God you are both all right…"

Katrina could almost do nothing but sob and wail now as Foxy just picked her up like a young, helpless child. Next to them, Derek held a weeping Nova on his lap as he kissed her and tenderly made sure her bottom was fully closed as he made sure her bikini bottoms were pulled up. Then, he again helped Foxy hug Katrina, and then, in a gesture of tenderness Katrina would remember for many years, Derek kissed Nova on the lips, and then he kissed Katrina on the nose as both Foxy and Nova soothed her with gentle caresses and whispered gentle words of, "shhhhh…hush…you're safe, Katrina….I love you," Foxy said. "We love you," Nova added. "Derek and I care a lot about you, dear one…"

"You're so kind to me…all of you!" sobbed Katrina as she felt safe, loved, protected, and guilty, all at once…

But it was over.

The amusement park ride was over…and so was their trip to the Blue Water.

Later on, back at the Wildstars' home, Nova, without an ounce of reserve or modesty, sat naked in their bathroom with Katrina almost in her lap and Foxy next to them as they both tenderly washed the shell-shocked young woman, whose exhausted sobs were finally stopping after a miserable hour and a half drive home.

"Are you all right?" said Nova.

"I must have drawn his presence by my anger at Foxy," said Katrina. "It was my fault. All my fault…"

"No, silly, that wasn't it at all," Foxy said. "You had every right to be mad at me. I was about to give up the idea when you changed your mind and got on line."

"And don't say you invited Ekogaru by being angry," Nova huffed. "I know you wouldn't, but if someone attacks me in the street on a hot day because I have on short shorts, a halter top and flip-flops, did I dress to invite the attack? No! I dressed for the weather! The blame for the attack lies in the sick mind of the potential rapist. And don't ask me how I'd handle it. I've been very close to being attacked in that way twice in my life. And both times, I was able to fight free because I'm a warrior. The only way someone is getting me is over my dead body! So, no, Katrna. You did not invite it!"

Someone knocked at the bathroom door. "Who is it?" Nova called out as she stood up and instinctively shielded Katrina and Foxy with her own wet body.

"Just me," said Derek. "I have fresh towels like you asked, Nova!"

"Good..slip them in here. And just look at my backside. I'm shielding Katrina. She doesn't like being looked at in the nude."

Derek came in, and, concentrating his gaze upon his wife's familiar lightly tanned body, he laid down a bundle of towels. "There you go…for all three of you."

"Make that two of them…..I'll be waiting for you in the tub after we're done, Derek," Nova said as she reached for the portable shower spray head and turned it on, "See you later. Check on the babies, please?"

"Okay…"

Later on, late that night, after everyone was in bed, Derek and Nova went to bed, shed their _yukatas_ and finished what they had started before in the Tunnel of Love.

Later, after they were done, Derek held Nova and said to her, "Katrina is scared about the future. She fears him. She really fears that damn ghost."

"But Foxy and Katrina's love made them prevail over Him," Nova said sleepily. "We have to talk to the Defense Council, Derek. And if you won't go, I'll go myself."

"Nova…what do you think he meant when he was talking about killing Aliscea? And sending fire through your heart?"

"Maybe it was a prophecy," Nova yawned as she lay against Derek as he caressed one of her breasts. "Maybe it was just his garbage-talk. He sure talks big, but can he really make a lot happen? He's scared of me. I have no idea why, but he is. Is he just a paper tiger now?"

"Hell no! He killed a man today, Nova. Remember? And he could have killed you just as easily."

"He won't," Nova said in a drowsy voice. "Not if I have anythin' to say about it…good night…and sweet dreams."

Derek kissed Nova good night and then he lay there for a long time in the night as she fell asleep skin-to-skin against him in his arms…

**TO BE CONTINUED….**


	9. Chapter 9

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

_Thanks to __**AMI MEITSU, GAIL KOPETZ**__, and __**JAMIE TUCKER**__ for some suggestions regarding this chapter._

**PART NINE: CHANGES (OF ALL SORTS) **

**I. ALISCEA'S MEDITATIONS**

**Planet Earth**

**The Rosstowski Residence**

**Monday, April 11, 2208**

**0600 Hours Local Time**

In the morning, Aliscea Rosstowski sat on a cushion, wearing only a light black robe, as she sat in her study in her home meditating.

_I've been getting all sorts of weird feelings lately,_ she thought_. I know HE has been active agaiin, but where? Paul is in the living room reading. Before I bother him, I'd better have a better idea what I have experienced feelings about…._

Aliscea shut her eyes, and she gasped as she saw in a vision the Spectre of the Dark Lord killing someone on what looked like an amusement park ride! Then, Aliscea saw a burning figure all in white like some angel confronting him. The hair was long on the figure, but it was so suffused with Light that Aliscea did not recognize who he or she was-or even the figure's gender.

Aliscea heard yelling, and she saw Kazuo Foxworth-Savela confronting the Dark One, throwing something and making him fade away as Nova and Derek appeared from nowhere to hug Katrina.

The odd thing about Katrina, she felt and perceived, was that there was something like a spiritual fog around her that kept her an enigma to her. _Who put that fog around her?_ Aliscea thought. _The fog is keeping me from perceiving her. I do sense, though, that Katrina is not her true name, and her face is not her true face. Who is this girl? _

Then, Aliscea beheld a laughing girl with golden hair, and then, she beheld herself naked with a large stomach, and, suddenly as the images juxtaposed, Aliscea realized that she was looking at her future child. Her daughter. A Voice spoke from within her, deep from within the Pellian Matrix, and the strange male/female Voice said to her, "Behold your child, Aliscea. The child you and Paul will soon have."

"Will the Matrix pass to her?" whispered Aliscea.

"No," said the Voice. The Voice was suddenly turning more Female as it said, "The Matrix is Pellian, but it did not originate with us. We originated with our ancient forebears, and the circle must be completed before the Matrix will be Pellian again. Your granddaughter will receive the Matrix, since your Daughter is not ready, since she does not even exist yet, and never shall be ready to bear the Burden. The Burden must pass to another…before you die…"

"…Die?" whispered Aliscea.

The Matrix said, "You will pass on someday as a casualty of the War with Ekogaru. You will give your life in fighting him. I foresee another woman very close to you will do the same; you shall take your last breaths within minutes of each other, someday."

"Oh, my God," whispered Aliscea as she began to sob. "How do I pass it on if I die?"

"You shall pass it on to Another at the moment of Death. He will in turn pass the Matrix on to your successor….your successor….she who shall pass into the Shadows with you, but it will be given unto her to walk a strange, hard path. Her fate was written before she was even born. It was given to her to pass from this life and to die, and yet, to awaken, rise from death as a member of the Star Force once did…and it is given to her to live on again, for nearly eighty more years after the day of her Passing, and to actually bear a child after she completes her Task."

"That Task is?" sobbed Aliscea.

"You are known spiritually to Us the _Black Dagger_ of Pellias. Your successor, when she rises again blazing and reborn with the Power Perfected, will be known spiritually as the _White Orchid_. You are the fire that destroys. She is the fire that heals, burns out evil, and redeems. It is given unto you to wound Ekogaru, we now tell you. It is given to the White Orchid to bear the Burden and to destroy him at last, with help from others. Then, she shall pass on the Burden to your daughter's daughter."

"Who is she?" said Aliscea as tears ran down her face. "Does she…the White Orchid, that is… live now? Or is she yet unborn like my daughter?"

"She exists now her deepest secrets hidden even unto herself, but she is now not as she will be then. Behold this!"

Then, Aliscea saw a strange vision. A tall figure with long blond hair who was in a gown that looked to her just like that of Queen Starsha of Iscandar…except that she was not in blue… but was clad in pure, virginal white. Her face was obscured by a strange Light coming from it, but Aliscea could see she was blonde. For a passing moment, Aliscea was very close to beholding who this enigma from the future who would succeed her would be…but then, the Vision was taken from her and all went dark.

Then, Aliscea came to her own conclusion. "Trelaina," she whispered. "It is she who will bear the Burden after me. She will live again, walk this universe again, and walk the Earth to be with Venture someday. Trelaina is the White Orchid. Yes…it has be her. It is the only thing that will make any sense. But do I tell Paul? Do I tell Mark Venture? What do I say?" said Aliscea to herself, for the Matrix was apparently confirming to her that Trelaina would live again and would actually walk the Earth and be with Mark someday, but as a living woman, and not a spirit or enigma. "But why is this hidden from me? Why can't I see this more clearly? _I HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW_?" she sobbed. "Especially since this seems to confirm that I will die fighting him…but when? How? And can I change this vision? How do I change it?" she wept.

From the spirt realm, Trelaina looked down at Aliscea with sadness and compassion, shaking her head as she whispered to herself, "Aliscea…poor woman…if only I could tell you how it is destined to happen, and _when_ it is destined to happen. For I already know, and I have already foreseen it, and even have an idea where Ekogaru will finally die….St. Luke's Cathedral, on Earth, someday, when the beautiful Cathedral is in ruins…" Trelaina again shook her head and sighed, thinking of Venture. "Mark, my dear, _dear _Mark," she thought as she saw him waking up in the morning beside Holly and cuddling her nude body in bed. "I love you so much. It is a pity that you will have to suffer so much before you and I can finally be together…and it is a shame that Holly must also die…at about the same time the White Orchid is revealed…and what a day that will be…it will be both the happiest and the saddest day of my life…when my life begins again…"

Then, Trelaina went quiet.

"Who wants more pancakes?" called out Nova in her kitchen at about the same time that morning. She was up making breakfast for everyone, with the help of Ms. Eloise and her mother, for everyone from the previous strange day had stayed over at the Wildstar house.

"I do, I do, I do, _I do_!" sang little Aurora Forrester as she stood near her big sister wearing a cute sleepshirt with butterflies on it. Nova, pretty in a pink _yukata_, smiled at her sister, kissed her on the forehead, and said, "Here ya go! Just made three more for you." Nova then looked at her household robot and said, "Ms. Eloise, would you please make up some more batter?"

The female robot bowed towards her mistress and said, "Yes, Nova. I'll get right on it, as you humans say."

Not far away, Nova pivoted on her toes and watched little Alex in his high chair. He was wearing a blue onesie and bare legs, and he was grabbing pieces of his pancakes, eating some of them, but getting other bits into his hair. Nova ran over with barefoot grace to clean her baby's face off, and she smiled at him and began feeding him apple sauce. Right next to him, in the other high chair, Ariel was making screaming giggly noises as her father fed her some _kren_ from a small jar.

Derek, in a black and white yukata himself, looked at Nova framed in the light from the window and smiled at her, saying, "You know, you look like a space goddess this morning?"

"Yeah, a so-called goddess being decorated with pancakes and baby drool! I wonder if Starsha ever deals with these problems?" she giggled as Alex drooled some food onto her hand. She cleaned him up, annd smiled as she fed him more apple sauce. Then, when she was done, Nova picked up her spatula and said, "If I ever, in God's wisdom, somehow become some floating hyperdimensional space chick in a blue or white gown floating amongst the cosmos, I want to make some changes. Number one: pancakes and sausage will no longer be fattening! Are we clear on that?"

"Number two," said Katrina from the table as she sat there in a light pink nightie Nova found for her in a closet…"you will ban nightmares!" Katrina then yawned and rubbed at the circles under her eyes.

"You didn't sleep well?" Nova said as she came over to her. "I'm so sorry. What happened?"

"Nightmares about our mutual _friend_," she said in a sarcastic, sleep-filled voice. "You are all perky like chipmunk, chattering away with robot….while I…I am barely on my feet. In your stupid, girly pink nightgown!" Katrina felt like crying every time she looked at herself in the nightgown. It was floor-length (only her toes showed at the hem of the nightie) but it was pink, and it was very light (but not quite see-through) fit snugly and had a frilly collar on it that set off her cleavage (to Katrina, it made "half her chest naked") and it looked like the blue nightgown Nova had been dressed in for her probable burial on the way home to Earth in 2200 after being overcome by radioactive sleeping gas. Nova had dressed her in it last night while herself dressed in a nightgown that was translucent and covered even less of her body. Katrina thought this gown was suitable for Foxy, maybe…to see her in but no one else. She was embarassed at the fact that it was _all_ she wore at the moment.

"First, pink's my favorite color, Katrina. Second, I had some bad dreams about him, too," Nova said softly as she stroked Katrina's hair while she knelt down by her to stroke her cheek. "Derek held me when I woke up crying. I'm only as active as I am due to the coffee. I'd call in sick today…"

"Work's cancelled for you, that's the good news," Derek said. "The bad news, though, is we have to see the Earth Defense Council. Remember that call I got a few minutes ago? We're supposed to be there by 0900." Then, Derek looked at Foxy, who sat there wearing a set of his own old striped pajamas. "The bad news, Kazuo…Katrina, is that you are _both_ wanted there with us. Luckily, Nova and I both have spare outfits that will fit you. I'm going there in my uniform, while Nova is wearing one of her civilian outfits. They will also have the new head of the Cometine Interests Mission there, a Cometine General named..I don't know…Kyler, Gyler, Shmyler…can't get my tongue around some of these Cometine names…sorry…"

"Gaeler; Purvis Gaeler," said Katrina as she corrected him. "He's been negotiating a Draft Understanding with Pellias; that's how I know of him," she said, hiding the fact that she knew Gaeler from years beforehand when she had been on the Comet with her father and had left with Radnar when he had been banished. "He is an all right-enough sort of man. I understand that they have some activity going on in what you call Forrester's Nebula?"

"Yes, the star cluster I discovered in 2199," said Nova as she yawned. "They don't know if it is a part of our Galaxy or not. It's sixty thousand lightyears away from here."

Derek smiled as he looked at Nova. "The smear you discovered on your scanners that night ended up being classified as a nebula; now it is a star cluster. Next, they might re-classify it as a mini galaxy. And, imagine, it's all yours," Derek said with a grin.

"Yeah, right," Nova replied. "And it's a mess. The systems there, I understand, are being claimed by everyone and their uncle…right?"

"Yeah, kind of," said Derek.

Katrina cursed her appearance again…being in pink…_pink_…while she wondered, _I wonder what sort of clothes Nova will be loaning me? I swear, that if they are too girly or tacky….and I wonder what the Defense Council wants of me? This scares me. I hope no one accuses me there or has learned who I am yet…_

Later, it turned out that the outfit Nova loaned Katrina was actually rather nice and even suited _her_ tastes.

Katrina found that Nova had a good-sized walk-in closet in the bedroom she shared with Derek that was lined with cedar. In that closet were clothes and uniforms; Nova's on one side, and Derek's on the other. Katrina found that Nova had a good-sized shoe rack filled with a good amount of pumps in different colors and styles mostly simple and classic, along with boots for her uniforms and civilian wear, strange lace-up shoes that Katrina didn't quite recognize at first (not being all that familiar with what sneakers, running shoes, and even soccer and softball cleats were) and, of course, given the warm weather, plenty of sandals of all types.

Derek had popped into the closet while Katrina was in there (Nova herself was in the shower; her romantic singing could be heard dimly over the running water in the adjoining bathroom) and he said, "Having trouble?"

"I thought she vas _poorer _than dis! How many pairs of shoes does she have?"

"I lost count around fifty pairs," said Derek as he smiled at Nova and her shopping trips. "She has others in the regular shoe closet downstairs with the house slippers-usually what she thinks she will be wearing out that day. She's a little like a hippie or bohemian in warm weather, though-almost always barefoot until she leaves the house, sometimes still barefoot afterwards, especially when she rides her bike, when she puts her shoes in her basket on that thing. Worries the hell ouit of me, but she never seems to mind. Did I ever tell you she's loaded?"

"Drunk? She is drunk?"

Derek rolled up his eyes and smiled. "Katrina, 'loaded' is a term that means 'wealthy'. Nova comes from a fairly wealthy family sitting on old money, as they call it. If she had grown up Pellian, Gamilon, or Cometine, she would probably have been some kind of Princess or Duchess. Her family's sort of strange, especially on her mother's side. Her mother's family name was "DuFresne", French for…something. On her Mom's side, she's Japanese-British-French, and on her Dad's side, she's Japanese-American. Her mother was originally named Teresa Victoria Yuki DuFresne, and Teri's sisters were Louise, now Louise Chernak, the eldest, and Yvona, the late Yvona Josiah, the middle girl. Teri is the youngest girl, and she has a brother named Hamilton DuFresne, who is the youngest child. On her Dad's side of the family, her father Karl Forrester is the second-oldest, and he has two brothers, named Arlen and Antonio, and a sister named Kumiko. Kumiko is very traditionally Japanese and actually owns a noodle house and does business under the Japanese version of the family name, which is "Mori". Sorry I'm going on about this…," Derek said, a little uncomfortable about sitting in his cedar closet with a strange woman while she tried to pick out shoes and a suit. He hoped Nova would get out of the bathroom soon.

A minute later, he got his wish as Nova ran in, clad in only a towel around her body and a smaller one around her head to soak up the water from her hair. She kissed him and said, "Entertaining people in the closet, Derek?"

"She was looking at your shoe collection and looked surprised by the size of it. That and your clothes."

Nova yawned as she casually pulled off her towels and put them in the hamper. "I need more coffee, hon…sorry. I'll be easy to dress…" Nova said as she quickly clothed her nakedness in one step by stepping into a pink romper she grabbed off a hangar. Katrina noticed that it looked like a simple jumpsuit with short sleeves and short hot pants. Nova looked at herself in the mirror topless while putting on a necklace with a cross on it and then put on some bracelets, and she said, "Derek, do you think I show that much in these if I don't wear anything under it? I want to be as cool as possible. "

Derek felt the material. "It's midway between heavy and light…you could probably go without for the kids as long as you zip it up a decent interval."

"I _intend_ to do so," Nova said with her nose up in the air a little as she zipped her outfit shut and then put an ankle bracelet around one of her bare ankles. Then, she said, "My sunglasses and sandals are downstairs. I'll grab them on the way out. As for you, dear…I'm sorry…out, out, _out!_ Ladies _only_ in here now!" Nova said teasingly as she kissed Derek and then pushed him out.

"Okay, okay," laughed Derek. "I know, Katrina..I do not need to see Nova dressing you."

"You do not need to see me in _nightgown_!" she snapped as Derek left. "Nova, why you have chest half-bare in this?"

"It is called 'cleavage'" Nova said. "It's intended to show off your breasts and make them look attractive."

"Oh," said Katrina. Katrina shyly took off her borrowed nightgown and stood naked while Nova got some underwear for her from a drawer; a black, lacy bra and panties of a sort that Katrina guessed Nova might never have owned. After she got those on, Nova handed her a white blouse and dark blue Capri pants. A pair of dark blue platform sandals finished the ensemble as Katrina looked down at herself and smiled, thinking, _Nova, dear you do have the good taste!_

"Like the outfit I picked out for you?" Nova said.

"I love it," replied Katrina. "Very nice."

"Thank you," Nova said. She led Katrina out and asked,' How does she look?"

"Looks good," said Derek, who was putting the finishing touches on his EDF blues and peacoat.

"You have fine taste," said Foxy, who had gotten dressed in suit pants, a shirt, and a tie belonging to Derek. Nova looked at the knot on the tie and rolled up her eyes as she said, "Derek…Kazuo! Don't _either _of you know how to get a tie tied right? C'mon, Foxy…let me get you fixed up," Nova sighed as she pulled Foxy over and undid and retied his necktie.

"Now you look good," said Katrina.

"How are we going over?" said Derek.

"We have our car," said Foxy. "Yours is kind of tight, so we'll follow you."

"Who's driving?" Derek said.

"Let's flip for it," Nova replied as she grabbed a coin. "Derek, heads or tails?"

"Heads," called out Derek while the coin was in the air. Nova got it and slapped it down. "Heads it is," she sighed. She smiled at Derek and said, "Please don't get us lost this time? We have to be there in 90 minutes"

"I know the way to Headquarters from here! Don't be silly, Nova!" Derek snapped back.

"Shall I bring the kids to Heroes' Hill later after I take Jonathan to school?" said Teri. "What time are you getting started there?"

"Well, we can meet up at home, since the memorial won't be until around eight tonight…we always do it around sunset," Nova said while stepping into her backless sandals in the foyer. She looked out the window and said, "Mom, have some rain hats ready for them? It might be raining on and off today since it looks sort of cloudy."

"I will…see you later," said Teri. Nova kissed Jonathan, Alex and Ariel goodbye, and she and Derek left with Foxy and Katrina.

**II. A TRIP DOWNTOWN**

**Planet Earth**

**The Tokyo Megaloplis**

**Monday, April 11, 2208**

**0917 Hours Local Time**

On the drive over, Nova and Derek talked about a lot of things as a contemporary cover version of John Lennon's _I'm Losing You_ played on their car's sound system. Derek noticed Nova tapping her foot along with the beat as they drove on.

"Your mom and dad don't seem all that talkative this morning," Derek said.

Nova sighed and replied, "Derek, I hoped you wouldn't notice, but my Mom and Dad's marriage is going through some strain right now. Dad has to be away on business a lot with all of the international settlements his law firm has been doing, and Mother resents his going around the world again and leaving her with the kids for days at a time, sometimes at their apartment here in the Megalopolis, sometimes back in the house in Boulder, and sometimes in the condo in San Diego, where they're renting a townhouse at the Rio Amarillo complex with the rest of us."

"She's really getting upset at him?" Derek said.

Nova nodded. "One time, when I got up to go to the bathroom last night…I could hear them fighting out in the living room through the walls. Derek, and they were so mad they were even talking about separating at one point."

"So, your dad is the so-called bad guy because your mother resents his career? He doesn't sound like me. I don't resent _your_ career."

"Yes, Derek. But mother has her own share of this, too. She's sometimes curt to my brother and sister, and Dad told me some nights she goes out to various bars and jazz clubs. Alone. Dad is usually not invited."

Derek whistled. "Sounds like trouble in Paradise there, Nova. Good thing we've never been that bad off, right?"

"Well, I've been pretty upset at you a few times, Derek…but never _that_ mad," Nova said. "I believe in you. That's why."

"And I believe in you, too," Derek replied. "Therein lies the difference. We're not putting each other down all the time….like Dawn and Jeff are…sure, sometimes we get at it pretty good. We've had some pretty good arguments in our marriage, Nova. But we always make up, right?"

Nova nodded her head at that. "Right! Derek, Dawn's due date is about fifteen to twenty days away now, I really hope Dawn accepts the fact that she's going to be a mother." Then, Nova paused and said, "I think she sort of is. She agreed to a photo session with her mother Lynn next week at the place in San Diego. Dawn must be more comfortable now about being pregnant, since…well, she agreed to have Lynn take pictures of her with her stomach showing, and even some in the nude…like I did when I was pregnant, remember? We'll be there on the weekend, right?"

Derek nodded. "We will be. Nova…are you serious about what you talked about the other day about the place in San Diego…that you want to make Mrs. Westland an offer for it?"

"Derek, we're in and out of there so much, we might as well own it," Nova said. "I'm growing sort of attached to the place. I'd like to do some remodeling and repainting that we can't do under the current lease we have with Lynn. Speaking of which…Sasha is also going to be at the same photo session with Deke. They sort of arranged it at the last minute…"

"Two pregnant women in the same place, especially _those_ two pregnant women?" laughed Derek. "Nova, what's Sasha's due date again?"

"Around the same time as Dawn's; end of the month. Derek, they'd better not go into labor together. Doctor Sane and I are not prepared for that! I…I remember something, Derek."

"What?"

"A prophecy of Queen Starsha's made on the night Deke and Sasha got married on April 28, 2207. Remember when Starsha talked to us in the President's office the night they got married?"

Derek remembered that night as Queen Starsha's words ran through his head again about that night, almost a year ago now….

"_Good. The future is not clear," said Starsha. "But, one possible path of the future I see…I see our child a year from tonight, on a bed, naked, pregnant as you are, Nova, about to deliver Deke Wakefield his child. Now it makes more sense to me. Please let them consumate their marriage tonight, as well."_

"Starsha said 'a year from tonight' on the 28th of April of 2207. The 28th of April is coming mighty fast, Nova."

"Oh, dear," Nova said. "Well, that would about be Sasha's time…and she has an ability that she tells very few people about. She has enough control over her own body that she can make herself go into labor with a mere thought. Her mother had to do that when she herself was born, and Sasha thinks she may have to do that if worst comes to worst." Then, Nova paused, and said, "Derek..I've been having some weird dreams myself lately, too."

"About what?"

Nova sighed. "There is this recurring dream that I have just gotten news that my father has died. It's a few years down the road; Alex and Ariel are much older, and so are some other children we're going to have who are not clear to me in the dream. The problem being that my Dad died in some kind of…terror attack…upon Earth. Along with most of the Prime Minister's Cabinet. There's a new President and Prime Minister in that dream; one person, serving in both offices…at the same time…and she has a very heavy burden upon her…because Earth is being invaded…at the same time…."

"That could never happen, Nova!" Derek said.

"It could…if Parliament somehow ceased to function and a new Prime Minister could not be chosen by either the Cabinet, the Inter-Space Committee, or even the Earth Defense Council," Nova said. "I've studied the laws, remember? I have an interest in going to law school someday when I'm older if the kids and my medical career allow it. I've known some doctors who are also lawyers. In fact, one is Darryl; one of the partners in Dad's firm. Anyway…in this dream…the President/Prime Minister is standing in her new office…crying. She sees all of the power of the Federation in her hands….sees she is now an equal to Queen Starsha and to Leader Desslok…but she doesn't want it! Because she wants her father back."

"Who's the President in the dream?" Derek asked.

Nova paused, and then said, "I have no idea why…since I have no interest whatsoever in running for high office…I want to be a doctor, for God sakes…in that dream…I'm the President of Earth! And the Prime Minister. Why am I dreaming this crazy stuff?"

Derek looked at her with deep compassion. "Nova, I don't know. I…."

"You hope it never happens?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah…I'm trying to say it in a way that won't offend you…I know how you get when I talk about putting your career on hold to have more kids…or just to rest, and…"

"It'll _never happen_," Nova snapped. "I'll welcome children…but…I'm not putting my life on hold for that..especially because I waited so long for _you_ years ago….I _refuse_ to be just a bored, desperate housewife…doping nothing at all…for you, or for anyone else!" At that, she made a fist and slammed it against the top of the dashboard to make her point.

"_Sorry_," said Derek as he remembered the ghost of an old argument they had revisited several times over. "Is what you're saying…?"

"Derek, someday, I might want to get into politics…maybe. But never that high up, and never over my father's dead body. I don't like the idea of being President or Prime Minister, Derek. You have to decide for everyone when you get up that high, and not everyone is going to like your decisions…and being in Government House ages you prematurely. I don't want to die when I'm just sixty, Derek…all worn out and tired like the forner Prime Minister Pennington recently did."

"Me neither," Derek said. "Me neither."

At that, they drove on in silence….

Finally, when they got to Earth Defense Headquarters, Derek had had to turn on his windsheield wipers on the Mustang, because it was beginning to drizzle.

The drizzle turned into a steady rain just before they approached the side street that led to the tubeway that went into the vast parking garage for Earth Defense Headquarters. After parking the car and gallantly helping Nova out, Derek looked at Nova and said, "We have about two blocks to walk. Have a hat? I've got my cover," he said as he put on his Captain's hat.

Nova nodded. "It's in the trunk." She walked around to the back of the car and got out her slightly battered Colorado Rockies baseball cap in dark blue. "Doesn't match my outfit, but it's better than getting wet," she said. Derek nodded and said, "Your poor bare legs are going to be very wet; it's coming down good."

Nova rolled up her eyes. "I'll _survive_, Derek. Getting my legs wet isn't the greatest tragedy in the world."

A moment later, Katrina and Foxy's black sports car rolled up. Foxy got out through one of the gullwing doors and helped Katrina out. She heard some thunder outside and shivered involuntarily. Foxy asked her, "Are you all right?"

"I don't like thunder," she whispered. "Reminds me too much of explosions in battle, such as…"

Nova looked out as another thunderclap hit and whistled. "That one hit the edge of Ueno Park. That's not far from here. Let's hurrry in before the storm gets worse…"

A moment later, after going down an elevator, the four of them got out of a lift and headed into the storm's teeth. Derek ran along, holding Nova's hand as puddles and water splashed her bare legs and sandaled feet. She shivered a little as her thin shorts set was plastered against her body in the rain and wind. Looking behind her, he saw Foxy dragging Katrina along; she also looked miserable.

They got into Earth Defense Headquarters about three minutes later after running across the square in front of the building. In the lobby, they were stopped by the usual enlisted guards, who said, "Do your guests have ID or clearance, sir…ma'am…?" Katrina breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the guards obviously recognized the Wildstars.

"They're with us," said Derek as he took off his cover and shook his head to get the rain out of his long hair before he and Nova passed through the metal detector and short-ratio wave scanner. They both walked along carefully, aware that the scanners were "stripping" them down to their skin for weapons; a technology first developed during the days of the War on Terror back in the early 21st Century. Of course, Derek, with his military-issue sidearm, was just waved past. Nova, of course, had no weapons, having only the small bag she wore on her belt and the material inside, along with her thin clothes, sandals, and baseball cap. Foxy had on only his suit and shoes, and Katrina had on her borrowed garments. They were trying to keep Katrina engaged in conversation so that Katrina would not notice that her body was appearing blurred but nude on the scanners at the guard posts.

Derek and Nova paused while they stated Katrina and Foxy's puposes fro being there today (they had been summoned by the Defense Council) and then they were given the appropriate passes after their ID cards were checked and their retinas scanned. Then, they were allowed to cross the huge lobby and go up in the lift to the proper floor.

Once they were there, Nova said, "Derek, Foxy, if you will excuse us…Katrina and I need to go powder our noses before the meeting."

"No problem," said Derek. "We'll be waiting in the coffee shop on this floor. Black for you today?"

Nova nodded, "A little artificial sweetener, and make it strong enough to melt the spoon. I think this weird heat is making me drowsy…and I don't think this rain is going to do much to cool down things," as she thought_, I hope this is not coming across as too terrible, but, once we get the first chance today, after that ceremony…if the rain stops and if it gets above a hundred again today…these clothes are coming right off me and I am going in the ocean regardless of whether I can borrow any swimwear from a girlfriend or not. I need a swim so badly that it is driving me mad. The water's so nice this time of year. And why is it so hot? What is accounting for this global warming cycle? It is getting worse!_

"What are you thinking about?" Katrina said as they went into the Ladies' Room together.

"The weather," Nova sighed. "This meeting. Everything."

"I do not see you putting powder on your nose," Katrina said as Nova began to walk towards a stall.

Nova just laughed. "What you just heard me tell Derek was a classic female eumphemism for "I have to go relieve my bodily urges"," Nova said. As she went into the stall and closed it, Katrina heard her zipper opening and heard the sound of her belt being rustled open. There was a slight rustle of cloth as Nova lowered her garment, sat down, and said, "Now, guys, you see…it's socially acceptable for them to be a little crude and say…_'I gotta take a leak…._' or…_'I gotta go take a dump so bad…_' Right? But it's not nice for girls to say such things," Nova said as Katrina then heard _exactly_ what she was doing…and blushed…(even though she had heard Nova doing the same thing before in the bedpan in the hospital room they shared when they had been in the hospital together!)

_These women's rooms are like locker rooms or something,_ Katrina thought as she was deliberating whether to hold off or not when another female officer, in greens, came in and said, "Are you gonna stand around all day or can I have one of these four damn stalls?"

"Uh….take this one," said Katrina weakly as she heard Nova softly singing "_Besame Mucho_" in her stall before the toilet was flushed. The other officer banged on the side of Nova's stall and yelled, "What are you doin' in there, missy?"

"That's Lieutenant Commander to you, Sergeant Bruckner!" Nova laughed. "Did you get caught in the rain?"

""Yeah, ma'am…and my stockings are soaked!"

"Where did you get stockings from?" Nova said. "Last time I tried to get a new pair, they only had black and black fishnets. Darn stocking and underwear rationing!"

"These are old," said Bruckner. "They have runs."

"Do you have a decent set of panties on?" Nova said while Katrina finally gave up and went into the stall.

"Yeah…"

"Take them off then," Nova said. Nova looked down through the stall at Bruckner's dark green pumps as she got up. "And get yourself something more summery at the PX on the 15th Floor if you can manage it. The new optional issue's actually open toe and open heel. They're cute! They decided to import the Israeli issue ones throughout the whole Ground Fleet Support Staff Division."

"Sounds nice. Why are you wearing pink things?"

"I'm in mufti," Nova said. "We're going to Heroes' Hill later on tonight." Nova came out of the stall and said, "Katrina, are you okay?"

"Yes. Why all this noise and talking in bathroom?"

"There always is," Nova said as she washed her hands. Then, she went over to the Execelerator hand dryer, put her hands under, dried them (while watching the blast ripple her skin) and then, she balanced on the ball of one foot as she did a slight high kick, like a ballet dancer at the barre, and raised her sandaled foot up to the blaster, sighing as it dried her exposed toes off. Nova then did the same with the other foot as an older female Captain came in, and said, "Are you with the tour, miss?"

"No, ma'am," Nova said, her voice recognizable as soon as she spoke.

"They sure teach you some odd things in the Star Force, don't they, Wildstar?"

"Learned this on my own," Nova said with a shrug. "Better living through technology, ma'am…why should I be walking around with wet, almost bare feet?"

_Techno-geek,_ thought the Captain to herself as Nova waited for Katrina to stop acting like a Princess and get done.

Of course, had Nova known she really _was_ a Princess….

Later on, over coffee, Nova looked at Derek and said, "There is an incredibly large contingent of people out there who think we are all weird in the Star Force, Derek. Discuss."

"Well…I've been resisting this guy's request to join the Lodge. Freemasons. Forgot the Lodge Number."

"Why is that?" Nova said. "Afraid of the Entered Apprentice Ritual, silly?"

"How would you _know _that?" asked Foxy.

"I read up on all sorts of stuff," Nova said. "Just finished this book on Ben Franklin and Freemasonry. Dad's one of them. Still sort of active."

"What's the big secret?" Derek asked.

"Can't tell you," Nova said. "It'd ruin it for you….and I can't come into the Lodge with you for this guy stuff…unless it's a unisex Lodge? Yes, there are military unisex Lodges out there….not sure how many," Nova said as she stirred her coffee.

"Nosy cowan and eavesdropper," snorted Kazuo. "Nova, you know that people who stick their noses in things can get them cut off?"

"Be quiet and drink your tea, Foxy!" Nova snapped.

"I would not really cut off your nose," he said.

"You'd better not think of it…or I'll kill you!" snapped Derek.

"Yeah?" said Foxy as he got up. "Listen, Wildstar, you may be some big damn HE-RO, but I'm rich! I know a thousand ways to kill a man by looking at them!"

"Yeah?" snarled Derek. "Then how come I'm still alive?"

"It's an illusion," said Foxy. "You're really dead and Nova here is now a widow. Which means I can have her come home with us and jump in the sack with Katrina and I…"

"Are you _mad_?" snapped Katrina. "That is ridiculous!"

"I think it's just too much coffee," Nova said. "He always gets like this on too much coffee," Nova said in a blasé voice.

Foxy took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I take it all back. Now, that _that_ is over with, why are we here again?"

"To meet with the Earth Defense Council, you idiot!" snapped Derek.

"Derek, let him alone," Nova said. "He's already apologized."

"I think this is tuning out to be horrible day," said Katrina.

"You're telling me," said Derek. "We're all on edge…"

**III. EARTH'S "BEST AND BRIGHTEST?"**

**Planet Earth**

**The Tokyo Megaloplis**

**Earth Defense Headquarters**

**Meeting Room of the Earth Defense Council**

**Monday, April 11, 2208**

**1122 Hours Local Time**

"Commodore Wildstar….you're telling us…" said one of the more skeptical members of the Earth Defense Council, Defense Minister Neil Ainsley, "That Ekogaru's ghost just killed someone the other day on an amusement park ride? Now you're telling us jokes. What about the guy from Nantucket, whose….?"

"He did, and it was no joke," snapped Wildstar. Looking at Nova, (who had just been surprised with a promotion from Lieutenant Commander to full Commander by Commanding General Singleton right before the meeting), he said, "Commander Wildstar made sure that police reports ended up in your briefing extract. We have proof that young man was strangled…"

"By an invisible force no one can see?" sneered Ainsley. "Okay, my guess is that your Star Force hooligans must be bored, must want some action, and must want to go out again? So now you're making up stuff to justify your budget for the next fiscal year?"

"Wrong," said Sandor. "Even if we wanted to go out again right now, the _Argo_ could not do so. She's grounded due to computer issues with the warp system." He looked at Nova. "Commander Wildstar, would you mind telling them what happened?"

Nova stood and gave a capsule description of the bizarre events of the _Argo's_ last space warp on her trip home. Some of the less respectful members of the Council chuckled as Nova recited her tale, while other, more thoughtful members, listened to her words carefully.

When Nova finished, Daniel Margolis, the attache' to the Federation Parliament Assembly. said to her, "You ever find your uniform yet, ma'am?"

Nova blushed and said, "As a matter of fact, sir, I _did_. Derek and I found the entire Star Force uniform that came off of me in the warp in our _attic_ this morning. Complete with my sidearm. We also have evidence, sir, that the computer malfunction that caused this may have been deliberate and caused by an outside force…."

"Listen, Miss Pretty in Pink!" sneered Margolis, "You don't want to know what I think of your crap junk science that…"

Prime Minister Gonjin, who was chairing the meeting, banged his gavel down hard for order. "I'm sorry, Commander. Finish your point, please. And I would ask all of you to bear this woman some respect. She is a highly decorated space sailor and she is both an effective computer and biological scientist and has just been promoted. You ignore these young men and women, our best and brightest, at your peril, gentlemen. Especially since it is my conviction one of them may well be in my chair someday. Now, Commander Wildstar, go on please…"

"Yessir," Nova said. "Some days ago, when that Spectran vessel attacked the ore ship _Monongahela_ and then attacked us, we picked up evidence that it downloaded something to us when we were speaking to the enemy commander. It turned out that at that time, it actually uploaded a type of Trojan Horse program that insinuated itself into our computer through a backdoor node. In order to stop such attacks, we have to build a new security firewall that will do an even better job in intercepting these threats than the security system we programmed last year."

"How lomg wiill the _Argo_ be down in the San Diego dockyards?" asked General Stone.

"Probably at least until July or August, sir," said Sandor. "Mrs. Wildstar and I have to write, debug, set up and test the new code and then make sure that it actually works in the ship.."

"Hmmm," said the Commander. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce another two of our guests. It sounds as if…we may have more problems, then. Problems even worse than the sort we had earlier this morning…"

"Earlier this morning?" said Derek.

The Commander then tapped on his intercom. "I didn't tell you about the little battle the Sixth Fleet was involved in this morning. Mrs. Singleton, you can send them in now."

"Yessir," said Wendy over the intercom.

A moment later; hubbub filled the room, as Captain Tucker Allen of the _North Carolina_ walked in…followed by a bearded Cometine General!

"Sir," said Captain Allen. "Where shall we sit?"

"There are free chairs near Commodore Wildstar and Mrs. Savela. You can sit there."

"Yessir," said Allen. "General Gaeler?"

"My pleasure, Captain," said the Cometine General in clipped tones.

"Remain standing, please, General," said Singleton. "Please introduce yourself and Mrs. Savela to the Council."

"Yessir," said the Cometine. "Ladies, Gentlemen, in your parlance, I am General Purvis Gaeler of House Gatlantis. General Radnar has assigned me to the Pellian Interests Section as our envoy to the people of Planet Pellias. As we have no actual formal diplomatic relations at this time, I would like to propose that you vote to have any communications necessary over the next few years between your Federation and the Comet Empire relayed to me through the Pellian diplomatic corps on your world. I believe this channel of communications is necessary for managing the Armistice, and also for exchanging intelligence that may be beneficial to all of our races."

"With that said," said Gaeler. "I have some intelligence pertaining to your recent affairs with Spectra that I have been asked; by Radnar, and by Leader Desslok of Gamilon, to share with you. Do you have the communications channel open that I requested?"

"We do," said Singleton tensely.

"Hold on, why are we listenin' to the Goddamn enemy?" barked Ainsley. "I mean…a few months ago, to be blunt, you nasty, ugly dirty green _sons-of-bitches_ were trying to kill us, and.."

The Prime Minister banged his gavel. "Ainsley, one more outburst like that, and I will order you removed from this session! My deepest apologies, General Gaeler," said Gonjin with a bow. "His attitude does not represent all of us in this room."

"He will be pardoned; once…" said Gaeler. "This I say out of respect for the proven heroes; those men and women of deep honor of your race who sit in this room with us, rather than the Political Hacks," he said as he looked right at Commodore Wildstar, Sandor, and Nova, and bowed slightly. "The Comet Empire is beginning to realize that the three of you of the _Argo_ have earned the freedom of your world, and the right for our Empire to treat you as equals rather than conquered or slaves. Not all of us feel as some of us do; we still have men and women who feel about you the same way that Mister _Ainsley _feels _about us_. However, I am among the party of men and women in our Empire who feel we have more in common than in opposition. Especially because we are beginning to see that we face down common foes."

"Sir?' said Derek. "Has Spectra been…?"

"Yes, son," said Gaeler in an almost fatherly tone to Derek. "They've been attacking us, as well. "For several reasons, we hesitate to crush them with our power at the moment; the greatest being that we both now face a new, common, and far more insidious threat."

He inserted a data cartridge that Earth Defense had scanned and cleared, and an image of about eighteen large vessels came up on the screen. "Technoumgar Goraizu Fortresses," said Sandor in shock and quiet awe. "Eighteen of them. My God."

"Leading a whole fleet," said Gaeler. "They said they came in the name of a…Lord Ekogaru…as his Scourge…to force us to see the honor of his way. They attacked this…"

Then, the others were shocked as they saw a blue-white Comet warping into the midst of the Technomugar Fleet.

"A Comet ship!" Nova whispered. "General, who's the commander of that Empire City-Ship?"

"Prince Tamlaz. He was one of our greatest commanders and conquerors, on a par with the mighty Zordar himself," said Gaeler.

"Why do you speak of him in the past tense?" asked Prime Minister Gonjin.

"You shall see shortly, sir," said Gaeler.

The Defense Council watched as the Technomugar ships turned about and attacked Prince Tamlaz's Comet.

The Comet field was soon blasted off the ship as the Technomugar vessels fired their Phased Density cannons at the Comet.

Prince Tamlaz fought back hard, with the belt of his Comet rotating as missile after missile blasted into the Technomugar Fleet. Some of the enemy ships were destroyed, but Katrina sat biting her knuckles in horror as the enemy ships attacked buildings and facilities in that Comet City. Foxy held her hand.

Nearby, Nova looked on and whispered, "Katrina…I don't blame you. I…think this is the first time I've ever felt sorry for Comet Empire forces!"

Katrina nodded, with tears in her eyes as both Foxy and Nova comforted her and Derek held Nova's other hand.

Then, eight of the enemy vessels fired their ugly, green, lurid Phased Density Cannons into the heart of this Comet City. It began to blow apart..and then…its remains were sucked into a massive artificial black hole. There was a horrid flare of light..and then, it was gone as the Techomugar vessels turned to attack the Cometine Fleet that was transmitting the suddem horrid death of Prince Tamlaz…and the picture faded out.

Derek leaned on the desk and sat up. "What happened to that sector?"

Gaeler sighed. "We regained it…only after two more Comets warped in…even then, a lot of that fleet got away. Needless to say, we consider this to be Lord Ekogaru's declaration of war upon the Comet Empire. And since I understand he has differences with your race, as well…"

"We're now on the same side," said Prime Minister Gonjin quietly. "Does your Emperor…?"

"He does not want a formal alliance…yet….but he is thinking of it…"

"I make a motion that we establish that formal diplomatic channel with Gaeler's race through Pellias," said the Prime Minister. "In favor?"

Eleven members of the Defense Council voted in favor of this move; the others voted against it.

"The motion passes," said the Prime Minister.

Commanding General Hiram Charles Singleton then looked at Captain Tucker Allen of the _North Carolina_. "Now, for our other business," he said. "Captain…please tell us what happened this morning when you were with the Sixth Defense Squadron."

"Yessir," he said. "We were on routine patrol outside of the Moon Orbit when we spotted a fleet of twenty-six vessels. Of these vessels, there were five space battleships; two of them being R'Khell, and three of them being grey ships of a new design we had never before spotted. There were also ten vessels that we identified as heavy cruisers, also of the same design…and they seemed to be escorting two very large heavies; mission unknown. Finally, there were eight destroyers."

Allen sighed. "They attacked us as soon as they spotted us. They sent us a message after they began attacking. The message came from a General Balkom; apparently the commander of their forces. I will have you run the message now…"

A moment later, the image of a very ugly-looking man with a shock of wild hair over one eye like Jefferson Hardy's appeared on the screen. He said, in a rough, nasty, indifferent voice, "In the name of the Bolar Federation, a mighty space power you have not had the pleasure of knowing until now, and in the name of the R'Khell Union, whom with you are now in a state of hositilities along with our new allies in the Crab Nebula and our _holy_ allies in the Blackeye Galaxy, we order your surrender at once. Surrender, and we will allow your Planet Earth to live…"

"What did you say?" snapped Stone.

"We refused to surrender, sir…and we ordered them to leave our territorial space. They responded by attacking us. We were close to outgunned…and definietly outmanned. Then, they got those heavies into position, and they fired two missiles right at Earth. One…we intercepted with a lucky shot. The other one blew off course…heading towards the inner solar system. Then, we did battle with them. The _North Carolina_ took some damage; she is in the dockyard here near the Megalopolis now…but we lost the patrol cruisers _Sefid_, _Selenga_, and _Rio Bueno_ along with the space battleship _Suriname_. The rest of our captial ships formed a battle line and let loose with our wave motion guns; we got six of them and the others got the idea to run. This space battle just happened this morning, sir. But I don't like the sound of this…"

"Where did that other missile go?" said Singleton.

"We tracked it to the Sun afterwards. There was some kind of small explosion on the solar surface and it vanished. We think it plunged into the Sun, sir. Since then, we _did_ notice something of an increase in sunspots. We're not sure what that means yet, sir…"

"Good report, Captain," said the Commander. "You're dismissed."

Captain Allen saluted and left. Then, Singleton turned to Wildstar. "What do you think of this?"

"I wish, with all my heart, that the _Argo_ was not down right now, along with the _Arizona_," Derek said. "Sir, I request permission to receive the first available space battleship…preferably an _Andromeda-_class….and I request permission to reform the Star Force out of our best and brightest so that we can leave and investigate these threats. I know some of us probably cannot come on this mission," he said as he nodded regretfully at Nova, who slowly and sadly nodded back, "but…we need to find out what is going on out there…"

"Permission denied," said Singleton as he closed his eyes.

"Sir?" said Derek.

"I don't have a spare battleship to assign at this time," said the Commander. "However, you, Sandor, and Commander Wildstar _are_ under orders to get the _Argo_ and _Arizona _back into full operational status as soon as possible. To that end, you're going to be travelling back and forth a bit between Tokyo and San Diego. I'm also assigning the three of you all of the civilian contractors you need to get this done. Take your time, Commodore, but we need those shups back on line in the next few weeks."

Derek nodded. "What about that missile and its effect upon the Sun?"

"Unknown at this time," said Tucker. "It doesn't sound good…I know. The global warming's gotten worse…weather has gotten hotter and more violent…and all we need now is more solar energy in the mix…"

Thinking about it made sweat roll down Nova's back under her outfit; she tugged a little at her outfit for a moment; as it was beginning to stick to her in a most uncomfortable manner. "And it was in the high eighties this morning," she said. "If the average temperature on the planet goes up much above…say 115 to 120…we may have to return to the underground cities?"

"What if it just stays in the 100 to 110 degree range?" asked Lex Palver, the new Minister of Science.

"If it just goes up _that_ high, you'll probably just see me at the next meeting with a bare midriff or something. At any rate, we need more data," Nova said with a blush. She looked at Derek. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"I'm getting hot, too.." he said. "Can't wait to get outside."

"Amen to that," Nova whispered.

Then, there was a beeping sound. An officer stood up, saluted and she said, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, and honored guests. We are receiving a communication…from Gamilon."

"_Gamilon?"_ said Stone.

"Desslok. He was expected," said the Commander. "Commodore Wildstar, would you speak for us?"

"Of course, sir," said Derek as he stood up and saluted with the others as Desslok's image appeared on a video panel behind Prime Minister Gonjin. "Leader Desslok, I trust you and Astrena have been well?"

"We _have_ been," he said in his dulcet tones as Astrena stood up. "I trust that you and Nova have been well?"

"Yes, we have also been," said Derek. "Leader Desslok, to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?"

"It is my understanding that…you recently have had…some difficulties."

"We have, Desslok. Do you know about the recent terrorist attack from a Planet Spectra?"

"I know _of_ the world, but do not know much of it," said Desslok. "We are aware that it is a small, polluted world in the Crab Nebula. I offered them membership in my Empire, but they refused. We understand their government is some sort of strange theocratic system wherein they worship a being called "The Great Spirit." This being's will is interpreted by a hereditary house known as the House of Ibn Zoltan. Their Leader is called the High Secretary, and we are in negotiations to send an envoy there someday. We hope, at the least, that we can establish relations. I plan to have our envoy question them for their terrorist activities and sabotage. One of their agents recently tried something in our territorial space, as well. I don't like that," Desslok purred. "If they do something major, I will have no choice but to break off negotiations and send in an invasion fleet. I'm sure you would understand my reasoning in that event?"

"We do, Desslok," said Derek. "Although it is our hope that invasion would only be used as a last resort?"

Desslok held up his goblet and sipped from it. "They started it. If need be, Wildstar, _I _will finish it."

"Again, let's pray it _never _comes to that," said Nova as she stood up, bowed, and looked Desslok right in the eye. "We have enough problems right now with other races."

"And, Nova, they are?"

"Have you ever heard of a power known as the Bolar Federation?" asked Derek.

"Yes. They were a power that had been defeated and enslaved by the Rikashans. When the Rikashan Empire contracted and became the Rikashan Federation, some Bolar worlds became free while others were still subject to the R'Khells. My sources tell me they have been granted their…"independence"…by the R'Khells, but with many conditions," Desslok said. "I believe this 'independence' is a sham so that R'Khell has more warriors for its mad ji'had against the less barbaric and more reasoned interstellar nations such as yours and our own."

"Meaning we're no longer 'barbarians' in your book?" said Derek.

"Oh, you are," said Desslok. "You are just…_enlightened_ barbarians, that's all…."

"Thanks a _lot_," Nova said with a wry grin, feeling a bit like a barbarian owing to the fact that she had basically only one garment on for the strange heat. She remembered disticntly the diplomatic visits she had made to Rikasha, where her uniforms had been replaced by one or two pieces of local hide or cloth. She remembered one time where her wardrobe for a Rikashan summers' day for attending a religious sacrificial and New Years' Festival of theirs had consisted of a native light, single _serape'_ type garment more or less cinched around her otherwise by-custom unclothed body with a single leathern sash, worn with sandals. Derek had gotten only a hide _fundoshi_-like loincloth to wear with identical sandals. _You should have seen us in those exotic getups, Desslok. We really looked like near-naked barbarians that day_, she thought. _And my mother would have died seeing me in that. Or maybe she would have thought it was 'cute' Hard to tell with Momma sometimes. And…it would have made a very convenient breastfeeding garment if I had had the kids then…._

Then, Nova thought of the riitual of the high point of the Festival's last Day, known as the _L'Kannah_…it involved one sacrificial lamb (or a Rikashan animal that looked like one) slain for every ten adults present. Prayers were said; the sins of the group were laid on the poor beast, and then he was slaughtered with a cut throat in front of everyone, and all had to be marked with its blood to share in the feast that followed, which consisted of the roast beast and local vegetables. _Their ritual is reminiscent of Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Good Friday, Easter, and Passover rolled into one,_ Nova thought.

Nova's reverie was broken when Astrena said, "Katrina Savela, you will rise now."

Katrina stood, apprehensive as to why she was called out all of a sudden. Did the mysterious Empress of the Pellians know her secret?

Astrena looked at her and said, "We have a charge to give you this day as a faithful Pellian. You live on Earth, but you still have responsibilities to your people; this we communicated to your Government earlier today in a diploamtic note. Therefore, as Empress of Gamilon and reigning monarch of our people, We order Thee to assume the post of Pellian Special Plenipotentiary to the Cometine Empire. As such, we have arranged that Earth will be able to communicate with the Cometines through you, and you shall communicate Cometine and Pellian wishes to the Earth Government. Dost Thee accept?"

Katrina crossed her hands over her heart in what she knew was a Pellian gesture of reverence and bowed her head as she said, "I accept, Queen."

"Good. Stand upright and assume your duty. We shall, at some point, soon….provide Thee with a small Pellian armed vessel and crew. You are to leave Earth and go on a fact-finding mission in the Crab Nebula…and then, you are to, per the wishes of the Cometines, to travel to a world of their choosing to negotiate with them. You shall then return to Earth and share your findings with Lady Aliscea at the Pellian Embassy and Earth Defense. Your point of contact with the Terrans, upon your return, shall be Commodore Wildstar, if he be available," said Astrena. "If he is not available, you shall report to Captain Mark Venture. If those men are not available, you shall report to Commander Nova Wildstar. Is that clear?"

"It is," said Katrina.

An hour later, after the Defense Council meeting ended, everyone broke up into small groups to have coffee, donuts, and sweet rolls, and otherwise to share notes and talk.

While they thus mingled, Katrina was tapped on the shoulder by General Gaeler, who roughly whispered into her ear, "_Princess…_"

Katrina stood there in shock as Gaeler motioned her out of the room into the empty corridor, away from the security cameras. Then, he said, in a whisper, "Invidia, Astrena knows who you really are. She learned this from Trelaina, and she also shared this with Aliscea. These three women are bound to secrecy. Not even Desslok knows the secret, of course. This is a message I have travelled far and wide to bring you," he said as he handed Invidia a slip of paper. "It is a small scroll in our language on rice paper. Read it and then immediately eat it. The ink is not poisonous."

Katrina nodded. She unrolled the tiny scroll, and in Cometine, she read:

_Princess:_

_We know of your contacts on Earth. We would have you cultivate them in line with Our Master Plan for the Universe._

_To that End, I summon you and your bondmate to my Throne at Great Andromeda before the end of this Terran Year. We shall speak as we should have spoken years before. We have much to discuss._

_The hopes of the Empire go with you, Princess of House Dezaria._

_Lovingly;_

_High Emperor Zordar…your loving father._

"Father," whispered Katrina, almost wanting to Change here and now. "Thank you. I have missed you…and I have missed our people. A visit would do us good."

"Now eat it," whispered Gaeler. "And we must not be seen together again. Go with our love…"

Katrina hugged Gaeler and they thus parted.

**IV. RETURN TO HEROES' HILL…**

**Planet Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis**

**Heroes' Hill**

**Monday, April 11, 2208**

**1956 Hours Local Time**

The shadows were beginning to grow long on Heroes' Hill as all of the crew who could attend stood at attention before Captain Avatar's statue; the sun was going down, and the civilians who were present, such at Nova's parents, Jonathan, Foxy and Katrina, and other friends and family members of the crew, were all impressed at the solemnity of the event as a cool breeze blew in from the nearby beachfront.

"Doctor Sane!" snapped Commodore Wildstar. "Honors for the Captain!"

"YESSIR!" screamed Doctor Sane in his loudest voice. "Captain, we are again here tonight to honor you, and all of the other men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the peace of Earth!" He then paused and said, "Many of us fell fighting Gamilon, the Comet Empire, the Rikashans, and the Technomugar! It was nearly six years ago that Earth was facing destruction from the Lord Ekogaru; and we surely would have been destroyed if it were not for the bravery of those who have made the ultimate sacrifce! Captain Avatar, Sergeant Marion Knox, Sean Conroy, Patrick Orion, Dana Royster, Hiyoshi Bando…and so many, many others! All of you are remembered here…and we must make sure that Earth never forgets your bravery and your sacrifices made in its defense! We will never forget you!"

"All hands..ready!" barked Commodore Wildstar. "ATTENTION! HONORS!"

At that, all of the Star Force veterans present snapped to and held a salute. Next to Katrina, Foxy snapped to….and, after a long moment, but still remembering that many of those here had died fighting her…not quite able to hold back her tears of rage, frustration, and guilt, she also snapped to and saluted.

She looked over to see that Teri Forrester was holding little Alex, and encouraging the baby boy, in the copy of his father's EDF blues, coat, and socks he wore…to "salute", while Karl was doing the same for Ariel, who wore a cute miniature of her mother's pink hot pants outfit with little pink sandals. Nearby, both Aurora and even David had turned quiet and solemn as they saluted.

Then, Derek snapped, "AT EASE!"

The crew stood down as Commodore Wildstar turned to face them. Dawn looked very uncomfortable as Hardy held her hand. "Now, comrades," said Derek. "For the moment, we will not be meeting again for a while, since the _Argo_ sustained some damage in her last mission. When we do meet up again for our next planned deployment, probably in late July or early August…we will be making some changes…Lieutenant Commander Kitano, front and center!"

Kitano came up, saluted, and stood before Derek. "Mister Kitano will be moving up in the Defense Forces. He will be leaving us because he has been appointed to command the space destroyer _Agamemnon_; and he will be leaving Earth again in about four weeks." Derek paused, and then said, "Mister Kitano, any comments?"

"No….except to say I met this _foxy_ girl soon after we hit port," he said with a laugh.

"Is her name also Foxy?" said Foxy as he stood up. Some of the crew gave him dirty looks as if to say _Who is this idiot and why is he here?_ However, Katrina stopped a lot of the glares by protectively holding on to Foxy and glaring back at his potential detractors. Then, to Katrina's surprise, as Derek glanced at her and nodded, Teri Forrester said, "Go up…he wants to see you up there…"

Katrina went up with Foxy and saluted. Derek returned the salute and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, this young woman is a forner pilot in the Pellian forces known as Katrina Savela. She is now assigned to Earth as a representative from Pellias; and she will soon be representing our interests as she makes a journey to negotiate with our former enemies. In order to keep the peace, I would ask you to pray for her success."

Then, Wildstar said, "Commander Sandor; Lieutenant Commander Henson..front and center!"

Sandor came up, holding hands with Diane. A couple of people whistled until Wildstar raised a hand for silence. Then, he said, "Sandor has an announcement to make."

"As you know…the _Argo_ is tentatively planned to leave Earth again for a few days for a new set of space trials in the second week of August," said Sandor. "However, most of us will be meeting up right before she goes out again…because, this time…I can't be there for this mission. The reason why is because of what is happening on Saturday, August the sixth. Diane, should I tell them, or should you tell them?"

"You tell them," said Diane, who looked very, _very_ cute in a wide-brimmed hat, sundress, and sandals.

Sandor cleared his throat. "Guys..gals…you're going to need a new Mechanical Group Leader and new Chief Engineer for this deployment…because Diane and I are getting married on the sixth of August! We decided we had to set a date…uh…after last night at my place…our, place…uh…."

Steve was really blushing at that. "How far did ya get?" yelled Eager.

"Eager, that's a terrible thing to ask him!" snapped Nova. "That's very personal!"

"We got to home base, and I'm not _ashamed_!" yelled Diane as some of the others applauded and whistled, while, some distance away, while playing with Alex, Teri Forrester turned to Karl and said, "Why, Karl…the _nerve_ of that hussy! And _look_ at the way she's cuddling up to him and looking at him! The little slut probably wants to do it again right now! And look at her sundress! She's half-naked!"

Karl whispered, "Our eldest daughter sometimes dresses like that…and she cuddles up to our son-in-law a lot!"

"Tha's different," huffed Teri. "Nova's _married_ and we _want_ her to give us a few more grandchildren…for all I care…she could run off right now with our son-in-law and do it in the back seat of the minivan and I'd be peachy with it! So long as they don't make too much of a mess, that is!"

"Would she do that, Teri?"

"Karl, I wouldn't care if she did…but this girl! She's just cheap! And I overheard she once broke Derek's heart! I don't give that marriage more than six months…I can spot a floozie from ten kiilometers away! And that is what she is…a red-headed _floozie_!"

Teri then went quiet because Nova ran over and asked about Alex and Ariel in a whisper. Teri said, "Alex seems fine, but Ariel seems a bit cranky…"

"I'll take her," Nova said. "I have an idea of what she might want after Derek has me up there to say my piece…"

Nova picked up her baby girl and held her and said, "Yes…aren't we the sweetest…Mommy missed you all day! Mommy _loves_ you!"

"Mommy no go bye-bye?" said Ariel.

"No…Mommy is keeping you and Alex all day tomorrow because Mommy is caught up on her work…we'll play bathtime tomorrow…play on the rug…Daddy might even have that new baby pool up tomorrow for us so we can play splashies in the water!"

"Splashies!" giggled Ariel. Ariel kissed her mommy, and Nova kissed her back, and then kissed Alex as she took Ariel up with her.

Up front, (and thankfully unaware of Teri's cattiness from the Peanut Gallery) Sandor continued with, "Since we have our wedding coming up, and we will be taking a honeymoon after that in the South of France…we can't be on the ship this time out. But we wish all of you the best of luck…and I think all of you are invited to the wedding!"

Sandor and Diane stepped away as Derek then said, "Commander Wildstar, front and center!"

Nova came up, holding little Ariel in her arms. Some crew members were going "awwww…" since Ariel was crawling up and down her mommy's chest and had somehow just squiggled out of one out her little pink sandals, so that one foot had a shoe on it, while the other little foot was bare…the little half-barefoot seven-month old looked so cute crawling around.

"I'm sorry, sir…I can't…salute right now…our daughter's kind of not letting me…" Nova said.

"That's fine," Derek said. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Commander Wildstar has decided that, barring incident, she won't be on our next cruise, because she'll be home with the kids, and because orientation for Medical School will begin for her in August, with classes beginning on August the 29th. So, there's going to be a new Living Group Leader, new Head Nurse, and new Cosmo-Radar Officer aboard ship when we come back."

"We're going to miss you, ma'am," said Homer, who walked up with Wendy, who was now very heavily pregnant with their twins, who were scheduled to arrive in June.

"Thanks, Homer," said Nova. "I'm going to miss all of you guys, too. Even Eager with his stupid comments…"

"Any more announcements, sir," said Domon.

"None!" said Derek. "Okay, all hands…FALL OUT! Let the party begin…."

At that, one of the crew's usual post-Heroes' Hill sake bashes started.

Katrina was surprised at the informality, as most of the crew just plopped down on the flagstones and began to talk as bottles of Doctor Sane's "Spring Water" (Katrina tried a glass of something from one of those bottles and found that it had to be a hundred proof!) came out, along with open bottles of sake, wine, beer, soda and juice.

Soon, Commodore Wildstar was sitting cross-legged on the ground with a bottle of Kirin Beer as Nova sat near him, nursing Ariel at a somewhat bared breast as the baby looked very, very content and played with something in one of the pockets of Nova's partially unzipped outfit.

Sasha sat near them, looking quite pregnant in a sundress and bare feet as she said, "Is it that hard to do, Auntie?"

"Not if you do it right," Nova said. "You'll have an easier time of it because you just have one and don't have to pretty much strip like me when they _both _get hungry. Luckily, Mom brought Alex over and he doesn't want any, so I don't have to…give a show right now. Not that I'd mind. If my babies were both hungry, I'd go naked for them if I had to." Nova then winked at Derek, and he winked back.

"You look so happy with them," said Dawn, with a note of envy in her voice. "How do you do it?"

"It's not always easy," Derek said. "We've both been burped on, pooped on, thrown up on, and peed on. Sometimes, they even think I'm Mommy when I don't have a shirt on and they grab at me…one night, when I was cddling up to Nova and got some milk on me, Ariel thought that I gave it, too..."

"I should have had the camera, then, Derek…that was so funny…" Nova said as she took Ariel away. "Done?"

"donedoneboo" said Ariel, who whimpered as Nova zipped up her top and began to pat and run her back to burp her while Derek tickled her little foot and then put her shoe back on her. Ariel then crawled over to her father and began pulling his hair as soon as she sat in his lap.

"Hey, stop that!" he laughed. "Yeah…that hair is part of me, sweetheart…it's not coming off. It's like mommy's! It's attached!"

"I've been getting my hair pulled a lot lately," Nova said. Then, she heard Doctor Sane yelling, "Hey, Nova! Come over here and drink with us for a bit!"

"Doc, are you that drunk already? Remember; I'm still nursing. I can't have any sake or real beer right now, but I'll take some O'Douls and pour for you!" Nova said as she got herself a non-alcoholic beer out of a cooler and ran over to Doctor Sane and his group. After a few sips of the non-alcoholic beer (which went down very nicely in the heat for the young mother, although she preferred Sapporo beer when she was able to indulge), Nova knelt down with the group and was busy pouring sake for Doctor Sane and laughing when Teri Forrester ran up and yelled, "Nova, you can't be drinking anything! You'll poison my grandchildren!"

"Mother, this is non-alcoholic," Nova said as she held up her bottle of O'Douls. "And I'm only pouring for Doctor Sane! You taught me the rules of hospitality for sake yourself, so don't act like you don't know them!"

"Give me some of that!" Teri snapped. She then grabbed the bottle out of her startled daughter's hands and took a big swig of sake. Teri licked her lips and then said to Doctor Sane, "Are _you_ my daughter's _sensei_? She talks about you all the time!"

"Yes, mother, he's my _sensei_," Nova said as she grabbed back the sake bottle. "And mother, please calm down! You just embarrassed me in front of all of my shipmates!"

"Shipmates?" Teri said. "I had the impression you were going to settle down, Nova Dawn Yukiko Wildstar!"

"I'm in training to be a doctor, Mother," Nova said. "Some day, when the kids are older, I'll be taking over Doctor Sane's sickbay, and, maybe, someday, I'll be in command of a hospital ship or a whole Unit at Central Hospital, maybe even the Hospital Commanding Officer someday when I get my first star as a Commodore."

"Where does that leave time for you to make me and the planet more kids?" yelled Teri.

"Here and there," Nova said hotly."Mother, I don't want to be pregnant again in the next six months! Maybe in the next two or three years…(which was actually when the next set of Wildstar children came) but not _now!_" Nova took some more of her pseudo-beer, while thinking, _The way you're going, Mother, I wish this was the real stuff! I need a drink whenever you start getting like that!_

"But Earth needs children and you're still young and healthy!" Teri protested as she played with her pearls above her dark green sleeveless blouse. They were a fairly new set of pearls; given to her by Nova, who had actually gone pearl-diving in the traditional Japanese manner to get them for her…going by herself into the Great Eastern Sea mostly without even a wetsuit or scuba gear to collect them for her mother's birthday present. Nova had even drilled out the pearls and mounted them herself, with the aid of some fine tools borrowed from Sandor.

"But I have a life, Mother! Now, go sit down with Daddy…and please don't steal any more of Doctor Sane's stuff?"

"Little ingrate! I changed your crappy diapers and this is the thanks I get from you? HMPH!" snapped Teri as she flipped her nose up in the air, turned on her sandaled heels, and flounced away in her blouse and white shorts with her big, bangly bracelets clicking as she walked.

Dash came up to Nova and patted her arm. "Is she getting on your case again?"

"Yeah," Nova nodded, brushing away tears. "She's drunk, too. How can Daddy let her stay here like this? And she's been getting worse and worse at times…"

"Yeah, Mom…she's a case, all right," said Jonathan as he sat down in his khaki shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops. "She said she didn't like the clothes you pick out for me."

"Wrong because you know I let you pick out ninety percent of your own things…you're just about old enough," Nova said to her adopted teenage son. "If she could ever hear half the stories you told me about what you suffered when you were a slave in Rikashan space, she would just scream and then realize maybe that is why you're so grown-up. You make a better babysitter for your baby brother and sister at fifteen then she does at times at the age of fifty-one!"

"How old was she when she had you, Mom?"

"Twenty-one…she actually got pregnant with me at twenty," Nova said. Nova was not about to tell Jonathan at this point that Teri had actually conceived her just out of wedlock in college even though she and Karl had married two months later.

However, they were all interrupted again when Foxy was found just _screaming_ at someone.

Everyone turned their heads to see Kazuo arguing with Nova's cousin, the fiery reddish-blond-haired Jane Forrester…his ex-wife.

Jane had been the only daughter of Karl's deceased brother Richard and his wife Leslie, who had died in the Gamilon War. Jane was about thirty-three, she looked somewhat like her cousin Nova, albeit with reddish-blond hair, and she was a rancher near Colorado who had a great deal of money. Indeed, she was dressed sort of like a cowgirl in a plaid shirt, bolo string tie, full denim skirt picked up in Texas, with funky open-toe cowgirl booties in grey. She also carried a Native-American looking fringed bucksin purse that had quite a few things stuffed in it.

Kazuo was yelling at Jane as she yelled back, "YOU still owe me money from the divorce settlement, ya varmint! You owe me about three hundred thousand credits!"

"I paid you off, Jane! Definitely not! I'm also remarried, remember? Or are you drunk? You were at my second wedding!"

"I forgot that and I ain't drunk!" yelled Jane in a loud voice (she _was_ drunk) "Who's the not-so-lucky girl?" she screamed as people began to gather around.

"I am!" Katrina snapped. "You forgot, dummy? My name is Katrina Foxworth-Savela from the Planet Pellias! I come long way and through lots to get my Foxy! Leave Foxy alone!"

"You married an alien? I kinda remember now….Hah! That's dippin' from the bottom of the outhouse hole!" said Jane.

"Jane, cool it! You're drunk and you shouldn't be here!" Nova yelled as she came up. "Mom, you knew Foxy was going to be here! Why did you bring her? I swore to both of them I would do all I could to keep them apart after that last argument they had over Katrina!"

"She was in town and said she had to talk," said Teri.

"This looks like trouble," said Derek as he came up. "Miss Forrester, I'm sorry, but maybe you'd better leave. Foxy, Katrina…come with us…Nova and I'll drive you back to Foxworth Manor! Nova, you can hold Ariel; Katrina, you can hold Alex.

"You're taking her side?" said Jane as she snarled at Nova.

"I don't want to take anyone's side," Nova said. "Katrina, you're my friend, and I love you. Jane, you're my cousin and I love you. Why can't we be civil about this?"

"Because he was never civil to me!" yelled Jane. "Those two years in Foxworth Manor was in_san_ity and he put me through a living hell before I dumped him! Katrina, this is a crazy man who should be put away!"

"You chased me away, if you remember. With a gun," said Foxy. "I later had to have the police get you out of Foxworth Manor when you took over and starting redoing everything so it looked like a Longhorn Restauarnt on the inside!"

"Is that why you have that hick room in there?" said Katrina.

"Yeah…that was her redecorating idea. Made a nice rec room, though," said Kazuo. "Now, Jane…let's get going. Are you dating anyone?"

"No! And YOU OWE ME MONEY!" yelled Jane as she opened her purse. Then, she pulled out…

….a gun. It was an old Colt .45 revolver; which she succeeded in pointing right at Foxy!

Katrina screamed and yelled "Get down!" as Jane fired off a shot! The bullet hit the flagstones and richocheted off.

"YA BITCH!" yelled Jane at Katrina as she pointed the gun at her. Katrina got up, snarling and preparing to charge Jane.

However, something like a hot pink blur tackled Jane from behind and knocked her on her face.

"NOVA!" yelled Derek as he saw his love wrestling on the ground with her crazed, armed cowgirl cousin. It was evident that Nova and Jane were fighting for the gun. Finally, after a few punches, slaps, and hair-pulls, Nova came out on top and held the gun on Jane while she yelled, "There's Space Marines around! Could one of you guys help me subdue this damn smashed out of her mind lunatic?"

"Gimme back my gun, ya varmint!" yelled Jane. "Ya ain't actin' like no cousin o'mine right about now!"

"Oh, be quiet," Nova said. "Jane, this happens about once a year; right,Foxy?"

"Yeah," sighed Foxy as he and Katrina got up. She looked daggers at Jane as two Space Marines got her cuffed while Jane said, "You're ugly!"

"I will make sure you go to jail!" snapped Katrina.

"No," said Nova.

"NO?" yelled Katrina.

"She belongs in a hospital for now…to dry out and get treatment!" said Nova. "Doctor Sane, would you call the medics? I think she needs to go to the psych ward at Central."

"Good idea," said Doctor Sane.

**LATER THAT EVENING….**

Late that night, after the kids had been put to bed, and after a very intimate hour and a half, Nova and Derek lay together in bed talking before going to sleep.

"So where's Jane again?" Derek asked.

"The Sixth Ward," Nova said sadly. "We know she's been sort of unstable for a while. After she's treated, she'll be able to come home. Minus that gun, of course. Foxy and I convinced Katrina not to press charges. We both know Jane doesn't quite have all of her marbles. She never quite had them after her father died and after her first husband died."

"First husband?" said Derek.

"She married this man around 2197. They were going to go into business together to rebuild her ranch, but he died of the space radiation sickness in 2200 right before we got back. Foxy's her second husband. Then, there was her third husband, Alan."

"What happened to him?" Derek said.

"He couldn't stand her any more so he…killed himself," Nova said sadly.

Derek whistled. "No wonder Jane's messed up," he said as he stretched his arms above his head.

"Yeah…" Nova got up in just her bare skin and walked over to the bureau, where she had Jane's gun,with the bullets taken out. "Beautiful old antique. I may give it back to her. Minus the bullets."

"How could you have charged a woman holding a gun like that, Nova?" Derek asked.

"The same way I charged Desslok that time when you were hurt. Both times, someone close to me was being hurt. I don't like that…." Nova then thoughtfully put away the gun and yawned.

"Nova, come back to bed?" asked Derek.

"Yeah, guess I'd better," she said. She crawled back in, passionately kissed her husband, and curled up in his arms as he flicked off their light.

Soon, both lovers were fast asleep.

**TO BE CONTINUED….**


	10. Chapter 10

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

_Note: This Chapter Contains some content that may prove to be upsetting for some…just wished to give a warning…_

**PART TEN: NEW ARRIVALS… **

**I. A FEW GENTLE MOMENTS…**

**Earth**

**Rio Amarillo Apartment Complex**

**Lynn Westland's Apartment**

**Saturday, April 15, 2208**

**1230 Hours Local Time**

"This hot weather is so _weird_ for this time of year," said Lynn Westland as she sat in the living room of her apartment, with the curtains and shades closed. At the moment, she had on just a halter top and shorts. "Nova, it's not been like this for years…"

"I know," Nova sighed as she worked on adjusting one of two cameras that were on tripods and aimed at a white blanket in the middle of the room, along with some lighting equipment under reflector canopies that looked like open umbrellas (standard equipment for modeling shots). Nova wasn't wearing much more than Lynn; she wore only an old checked top, a pair of denim shorts, and green sandals. Derek stood near her in a pair of cutoffs and flip-flops; he actually went bare-chested in the sticky heat. Derek then said, "We're going out for ice cream, later, if you and Dawn and Jeff would like to come along…"

"We'll have to see how she feels, Wildstah," said Jefferson Hardy, who was in a tank top, shorts, and bare feet. "Let me go and see if Dawn's ready yet," he said as Ariel crawled over to him and grabbed at him. She had on only her diaper for coolness, and Hardy laughed as he scooped the laughing baby girl up into his lap. "Yuh know….those eyes o' yours are a deadly weapon?"

"Yeah," said Derek. "She's got me wrapped around her little finger…don't you, Ariel?" he said as he picked her up.

Ariel said back, "dadadadadadadadada!"

Jefferson then tapped on the guest room door for Dawn. "Dawn, are yuh ready?"

"Yes," she sighed through the closed door. "I'm washed up and…ready as I ever will be, I guess. Could you have Derek step out of the apartment while we do this? And are Deke and Sasha here yet?"

"No…they called and said they'd be late," said Jeff.

"Thank God," said Dawn. "Nova can handle the cameras herself, right?"

"I'd think so, since one of them is hers. The other is Derek's, but you know them…they're always using each other's stuff. Now and then, Nova's even been grabbing up some of his clothes on occasion and wearing them when she needs something loose. She had on this minidress the othuh day when it got a little cooluh that ended up bein' one o' his sweaters!"

"Well, please ask him to go away for ten minutes…I don't want him seeing me like this! I look ugly! I don't know why I'm doing this!"

"Okay." Jeff blew Dawn a kiss through the door and ran out. "Suh," he said to Derek. "With all respect, could yuh leave for maybe fifteen minutes and call right before yuh come back? Dawn doesn't want you seein' her….in her skin…"

"That's okay," said Derek. "I'll just go right back to our place with Ariel," he said. "Nova, how's Alexander?"

"He's crawling all over the set," giggled Nova as she tried to catch her son; the young mother looked rather amusing as she crawled on her hands and knees to catch her baby. "There you go….uppity!"

"_Uppity_!" squealed Alex as Nova picked him up and then began to tickle his bare chest and belly button. Derek brought over Ariel, who got some of the same tickle treatment on her bare chest, tummy, and little bare feet from her mother with lots of kisses for the baby girl and a big kiss for her father. Derek then kissed Ariel and their mother, and he began to leave as Nova asked, "Where's Jonathan?"

"He went out with Felicia, Michelle, and Michelle's boyfriend," Derek said. "They're downtown and should be back in maybe an hour or so…"

"Double-dating…sounds cute," said Lynn. "See you in a bit, Commodore…"

Wildstar blushed, "Lynn…if I can call you that…I'm just 'Derek' when I'm out of uniform…see you girls later…"

"Take care," Lynn said as she smiled at Derek while Nova blew him a kiss.

Then, Hardy ran back to the bedroom door and said, "Okay, Dawn…no one here now but me and the ladies…yuh can come out now…are you…?"

The door opened, and Dawn came out, blushing from head to toe as she came out holding her stomach. She was getting her final pregnancy pictures taken, because the due date was now less than two weeks away.

Dawn's attire for this shoot…in order to show off her pregnancy one last time…was to be nothing at all. Lynn went, "Awwwww.." as Hardy came out, walking romantically hand-in-hand with her pregnant, naked daughter. Nova also smiled, thinking, _I don't know what she's so self-conscious about? She doesn't look much different than I did when I was pregnant….she looks cute!_

Dawn walked over to the white blanket that was set up in the middle of the living room floor, and she let Hardy help her sit down.

Nova looked her over with a critical eye, brushed her hair a few times, and then got a large powder puff and patted down bits of her naked body with makeup….making her giggle. "That _tickles_!" Dawn said.

"I know," Nova said. "Mom always did that to me when I'd pose like that as her subject…since Mom and I haven't talked much since the other day at Heroes' Hill, Derek's been doing some of the photography work for the book and has learned this stuff. I feel more comfortable with him, anyway…"

"What sort of book are you working on?" Lynn said.

"A long book, maybe five or six hundred pages, that I'm writing on pregnancy and child care issues," Nova said. "Rather than hire outside models, I'm doing about eighty percent of the modeling for the book's illustrations myself; Sasha's doing some of the other work. Naturally," Nova said as she blushed a little, "for a lot of the shots regarding nursing babies, bathing them, and some of the shots where I cuddle with Derek where I wrote about intimacy between new parents, for the sake of clarity and good taste, I posed in the nude or close to it. Sasha did some shots, too…"

"Why didn't you ask _me_ to pose for your stupid book?" whined Dawn. "I can't be _that_ ugly, can I?"

"I'm sorry…I didn't think you were interested," Nova said as she got behind the cameras and began to mess around with light meters and exposure settings on the cameras. "There…three hundred on the photosensor should do it," Nova said. "Sit up, Dawn! And _smile_!"

Dawn did so, sitting there on her knees and holding her pregnant stomach. Her unusual blonde bangs stood out against her brown hair as Nova snapped off shot after shot of her with different facial expressions.

Hardy then got on the floor and held her as Nova got some shots of both of them together cuddling…with a shot of them kissing…and then, Hardy moved out while Lynn got into the picture on the floor and hugged Dawn.

Then, Alex crawled over to her, chattering and gooing away as he crawled right for Dawn's lap. Dawn was taken aback by the baby boy's curiosity about her as he looked quizzically at her tummy and then tapped at her belly button. She giggled as the baby boy tickled her, and Nova got those shots, and then Nova set the self-timer and crawled into the frame herself, getting into position just in time as she gave Alex and Dawn hugs.

Then, after Nova and Dawn exchanged a cute, sisterly kiss, the phone rang.

Nova scooped up Alex and answered it, "Hello?" she said.

"Just your husband," said Derek. "Hey…Deke and Sasha have just shown up. Ask Dawn if she wants to do some shots with Sasha…"

"Dawn?" Nova said. "Would you like to pose with Sasha? They're here for their shots before we wrap up."

Dawn's answer surprised them. "I'll pose with _Deke_ like this…but not Sasha….Deke's still family…right, Mom?"

"He is," said Lynn. "But you're not dating him nor have you asked your _husband_ what he thinks of the idea," Lynn said frostily as Nova gave Lynn an equally shocked and determined look and nodded. "Why don't you ask Jefferson?"

"Jeff?" said Dawn.

""I don't think much of the idea," he said in clipped tones. "Let's ask Nova what she thinks. Nova?"

Nova looked very annoyed. "Dawn…I know you and Deke are close. But if you want a picture of yourself pregnant and in the nude with him, then please get someone else to take the pictures. Because I won't do it! It's not right! I think the only males a pregnant woman should pose with _like this_ are the father of her child, or _maybe_ her own father. If you pose with Deke like that…that would send a strong message that I don't like; nor consider to be very moral. You can pose with him with your clothes on, if you want, even though I think even that would be questionable if Deke is holding you. Don't you know that a picture of you pregnant, being held by a man other than your father…if he were here, and we know he is not…implies that that person is the father of your child? I have an artistic sense…and I consider myself something of a space poet, whether it's in words, music, film like I do for the holography room on the ship, or pictures or paintings. But I will _not_ photograph _that._ Especially because I think it is immoral for you to be in Deke's arms in front of your husband, and especially in your present condition! Are we clear?"

"Yes, Ms. Morals!" Dawn snapped. "I know, I know…just because I'm friends again with Deke, I'm a _slut!_ Isn't that what you are all saying? Isn't that what you are saying, _Jeff_?"

"Dawn…I said nothin' like that at all!" said Hardy.

"And I mean nothing like that, either!" Nova snapped. "It's just a matter of artistic taste!"

"Yeah," said Hardy. "Nova and I are just sayin'…along with yoah mom…."

"SHUT UP!" screamed Dawn as she bent down and slapped Jeff across the face as hard as she could. Then, she pivoted around and slapped Nova across the face, too! "Artsy-fartsy space poet hypocrite! Go write yourself a haiku about getting it from _your_ husband, Ms. Genius! Because we all know you just _love_ fucking around with your husband at all hours of the day, right?"

Then, Dawn tore off for the guest bedroom, slammed the door, and threw herself on the bed and cried loudly.

"Nova, were you this bad when you were pregnant?" said Lynn quietly.

"No," Nova sad through a half-sob as she protectively held and rocked Alex as he began to whimper and then cry softly. "If she had gone near my son, Lynn…with all respect, I would not have been responsible for my actions after that. And I'm starting to get a shorter fuse than usual with people. If she ever pulls that crap with me again, I am slapping _her_ across the face! I took from my time today to do this for her and Jeff where I could have been out with _my _family! And if my mother ever pulls what she did at Heroes' Hill with me again…I may just well slap _her_ across the face next! I'm _sick_ of being screwed around with!" Nova said as she picked up one of her empty camera bags and threw it down. Then, she heard Dawn's crying and screaming through the walls. "Lynn…Jeff..one of you had better go and talk with her. And please get her dressed. She should not be naked in front of Deke in my opinion…unless the babies were already here and she was nursing or bathing both of them, that is…then, that can't be helped."

"Let me get you two some ice for your cheeks," said Lynn. "Then I'll talk to her."

"Good idea," Nova said.

**II. CONFRONTATION! ALISCEA'S GREATEST MISTAKE**

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis Region**

**The Pellian Royal Embassy**

**Sunday, April 16, 2208 (Local Time)**

**0445 Hours Local Time**

Aliscea Rosstowski had surprised the Embassy Staff by showing up there, in the middle of the night, with her yawning bondmate and husband Paul in tow, shortly after having a very weird dream and visions that continued when she woke up.

She was still maybe ten percent in her visions when she showed up at the Embassy….gleaming….and very much naked. Paul had on only his pajama bottoms and was really out of it. The Night Docent, a Pellian known as Terin Jankow, received the Lady there at once. Once they got into a conference room, Aliscea and levitated herself, floating barefoot above the table

"Aliscea, what are we doing here? It's nearly five…in…the…morning…and you're not even dressed!"

"That does not bother us," said Jankow. "One of her predecessors, the Lady Alina, took a vow and she went naked her whole life. Lady, why dost thou appear here?" he said, bowing to Aliscea with the gravest of respect.

"I had a terrifying vision," Aliscea said as she began to gleam all over with light. "Very, _very_ terrifying."

"And that is?" he said, picking up her fear and pain through her bond as tears filled her eyes.

Then, Aliscea used her bond to grab Paul's hand and show him the vision…and she grabbed Jankow's other hand and let him experience the vision as well.

The Dark Lord's spirit, which was sickening, evil, and looked like a Grim Reaper burning with flame…laughed over the Earth as he looked at Aliscea and said, "Behold, my dear, dear, _dear_ Aliscea! Someone on Earth is going to receive a little gift from me soon," he sang.

"Who?" demanded Aliscea.

"Someone on Earth, someday…is going to have my next child. Maybe. I don't have to tell you who. Or why. "

Aliscea shivered in a wave of deep cold, knowing that she had just been touched by her Enemy…but she didn't know how. _He's becoming more powerful,_ she thought in panic. _And he is in touch with his forces in the Blackeye Galaxy! But how? Why? We all thought they were defeated at the end of the last war we had with him…_

Aliscea then turned on Ekogaru and screamed, "We have had enough of you! _Begone_!"

"Where shall I go? What shall I do?" he mocked.

"Frankly, you _bastard_, I don't give a damn!" yelled Aliscea as she disappeared from Jankow's sight with Paul, dragging him with her into the spiritual realm.

The first thing Paul Rosstowski notived as Aliscea dragged him bodily into the sprit world was that now, he was naked too. The cold there was nearly unbearable, but Aliscea whispered, "Take my hand, my love…I'll try to keep you warm…there's no time to dress you now…I'm so sorry…but…concentrate with me..send me your love…as I…."

Then, Aliscea looked right at Ekogaru's spirit, made a fist, and screamed.

White, blazing flame blasted from her fist as she held Paul and floated with her toes pointed, her every breath racking her slender frame as she drained the power of the Matrix and her own power into the Dark One, causing him to convulse with pain and rage as his spiritual essence withered, crackled, and began to fade…floating down into a bizarre, gleaming ball of light that resolved itself into….

…a crystal Sphere.

Aliscea grabbed for the Sphere, which hurt and burned her as soon as she touched it. It burned her horribly as she held it against her naked breasts as she tried to keep it from flying off….

Aliscea then ground her teeth and grasped the Sphere as hard as she possibly could, meaning to just shatter it in her right hand even though she knew she would probably not even have a right hand when this was finished. Ekogaru's essence could be heard inside the Sphere, moaning and screaming horribly as he knew that Aliscea had him where she had wanted him for most of her young life.

Aliscea felt a sudden impulse to pray…to yield the battle up to Higher Authority at this point because she suddenly sensed a wisdom was needed that was beyond hers…and even beyond the vast pool of knowledge she held in the Matrix. The thought…. _You cannot do this alone…_ came to Aliscea. _Yield now….ask for My Aid_

Aliscea hesitated, and then she said, "How?"

_I am before you and around you_, came the Voice. _This is not your battle…it is…above you…above mortality itself…this is My…._

Aliscea nodded grimly and then screamed out, "Mother! Trelaina! Starsha! Anyone who can hear me! AID ME! I have HIM!"

A moment later, as the Sphere bucked and kicked in her hands, Paul Rosstowski looked on in shock as another Great Light filled the astral space….

…and a beautiful, eerie-looking phantom with light blond hair appeared.

"Trelaina?" asked Paul.

"Aliscea!" she said. "I am here because you called upon me! What do you desire? I sense you hold a great Evil…"

"It is HE" said Aliscea, as, far away, in China, Gary Maples lay in a hotel room with a nosebleed that was on the verge of turning into a fatal hemmorhage. In the astral realm, Aliscea handed the flaming Sphere to Trelaina and said, "I've got him…do you know what to do?"

Trelaina touched the Sphere and recoiled as if she was burned. "The answer is _before _you, Aliscea!" Trelaina said as she put up her hands in a gesture of prayer. "Yield to a Greater Authority!"

"I thought I did when I called _you!_" Aliscea snapped. "I have great power, but you have greater wisdom…can't you..?"

"I can assist…but…this is beyond even me," said Trelaina. "This must be shattered," she said as she touched the Sphere. "Shatter it, and you shatter the house of his sprit…but….if you do not…."

"Aliscea," said Paul. "Listen to the lady…she's got a point! C'mon, Aliscea…say an Our Father..a Hail Mary…something!"

"What good would that do now, Paul? And as for breaking the damned thing, I tried that Miss_Trelaina_!" snapped Aliscea. "You destroyed Telezart; you destroyed a Cometine Dreadnaughtl You're telling me you can't blow up a little crystal ball the size of a softball? What kind of Space Chick are you, anyway?"

"That can only be done by someone who calls upon a Higher Force!" snapped Trelaina. "You must call for aid!"

"But I'm the Chosen One!" yelled Aliscea. "And aren't _you_ the White Orchid? C'mon…let's kick his ass!" said Aliscea.

"What I will become remains to be seen," said Trelaina. She tried to force Aliscea's hands into an attitude of prayer. "You have him! _You_ must yield! Please!"

"I'm not giving up!" yelled Aliscea as she tried to throw the Sphere….

…and then, it winked out and vanished as Ekogaru's laughter filled the astral realm. "Thank, you, ladies, for being bitchy and having a stupid argument!" roared the Dark One as he appeared and taunted them. "I have a little trip to make….to China…then, I'm afraid, Aliscea, dear, I have to…how do you put it…BLOW THIS JOINT FOR A WHILE? Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Then, the Phantom of the Reaper appeared again, and then vanished, leaving a very bereft and shocked Aliscea and a disappointed Paul facing a Trelaina who stood there with tears running down her face.

"Aliscea, you have gravely disappointed us," said Trelaina, "And you have disappointed powers and forces and forces far higher than I! If you choose to fight him alone, you shall do so _alone_. And you are thus doomed to fail. Unless you take action now to redeem your mistake…"

"And that is?" said Aliscea.

"Yield the Matrix to me…now," said Trelaina. "Give up your post and bow to a Greater Will. Do so, and we can make your successor, the White Orchid, appear right now. Then, you can surrender, train her in the use of the Matrix, and, together, we can spend time grooming her to fight the Dark Lord. Then she can challenge him, and he will meet his appointed end. Just yield now, Aliscea. For this battle is now beyond you."

Aliscea knelt, heartbroken. _I've failed,_ she thought. _I spent my whole life getting here, and this is the second time I had him by the balls…and I failed. Again! Should I give up?_

Paul whispered in her ear, "Honey, I love you, and I will always, always love you and be with you. But I think Trelaina's right. Give this up and let her become the White Orchid. Or Sasha. Or Starsha…or whoever it is Trelaina has in mind…"

Aliscea then called to her mother, "Mother? I am at a a crossroads here! Is it time for me to quit being the Lady of Pellias? Indeed, is it time to pass the Matrix on to another world or another place?"

Astrena's face then appeared to Aliscea and said, "Only you know that answer, Aliscea. I cannot decide for you in this matter. Nor can I advise you. I can warn you, though, of what created Ekogaru in the first place; what made a man who was long ago a good and well-meaning scientist and politician into the monstrosity he is today. One sin caused his fall. One sin alone."

"And that is?"

"Pride," said Astrena "Pride tempts all of us. It calls to the most gentle, humble, and pure of heart, and it calls to those with great gifts, great talents, and great powers. Fight it, and you know your place in the Cosmos. Give in to it, and you become your own God. What will you do?"

Trelaina stood with her hand extended, awaiting an answer, as Aliscea forced her hold on the power of the Matrix to lessen for a moment, and it took shape and form…like that of a simple golden ring in her hand, but a ring that burned with fire.

"Pass it on to me," said Trelaina softly. "Do that, and…"

"NO!" roared Aliscea as she grasped it hard…and burned with flames that now looked blighted and red rather than the pure golden they had been. "I am the Chosen! I will NOT YIELD! I must fight Ekogaru! And the Matrix is precious to me…too precious a Gift to give up…" said Aliscea as a thought she hid even from Paul contorted her face as she looked at Trelaina and screamed, "Now I percieve what _you_ see, Trelaina, and I'm not giving this to you, to either make you more powerful….or to pass it along to someone about as psychic _as a dumb rock_! If I pass it on now, it'll just go into the hands of a puppet and you'll be pulling the _strings!_ You want it? Then kick my ass for it!" roared Aliscea.

Trelaina bowed her head as tears ran down her cheeks. "I see you have made your _decision_," she said sadly. "And, before you die, I prophesy that you will see nothing but suffering and pain, and that pain will also be inflicted upon billions of innocent persons, many of whom are not even yet born. Had you yielded, the White Orchid could have come forth today and after proper counsel, she could have destroyed him _today_ because he is now so weakened. But I cannot take the Matrix from you. It is forbidden. And now, we part. This will be the last time you shall see me for many years, Aliscea Rosstowski. You shall not see me again until a few days before you die, defeated, in agony, in pain, broken by your enemy, dying a horrible death naked and consumed to your very bones by fire from within you controlled by HIM. Then you will yield. Then you will give up the Matrix upon your last breath…and then, and only then, can your successor appear to finally finish where you have left off. Goodbye, Aliscea. I shall pray for you. Pray that someday you will see how foolish…how selfish…and how childish…you have been…"

Then, Trelaina disappeared…and, then, a moment later, Aliscea and Paul reappeared to a startled Jankow.

Aliscea was shivering as she let go of Paul. She raised her hand and clothed him in his Star Force whites as fire ran over his body and turned into garments, but there was pain for him now as the Fire ran over him. For the first time, Aliscea looked blighted to him; less than perfect, more mortal, and definitely fallen from a higher estate. He looked deep into her eyes, but while love for him was still there, it was now less pure than it had been, and it looked spoiled, selfish, and blighted by the pride that he now knew was in Aliscea's heart. The pure, beautiful look that had once been in Aliscea's eyes was now gone, and he somehow knew that she would never again recover it in this life.

Indeed, while her nude body still looked beautiful, the sense of otherworldy purity she had possessed was now gone, somehow. Aliscea shut her eyes and clothed herself in the uniform of a Pellian Starship Captain, gasping in pain and shame as the flames ran down her body and coalesced into her clothes. Then, she looked at Paul, and at Jankow, and then screamed out to her mother, "MOTHER! WHAT HAVE I DONE?"

"You have made your choice," said Astrena's voice softly from nowhere. "Oh, the Matrix is still with you, oh, you can still destroy, and, oh, you have great power. But, pick up that withered flower on the table. Pick it up and try to will life back into it. Then, tell me what you see…"

Aliscea did so, and she began to will health and life into the withering flower to try and heal it. She sent her fire from her into the flower, but, to her shock, the fire came out red, rather than golden.

All it did to the dying flower was destroyed it. Soon, it burned in her hand and turned to ashes and dust.

Aliscea stood stunned. A few hours ago, it would have been simple for her to will life back into it.

Now, that power was lost to her as she sensed she had just strangled and grieved the Matrix by her own vicious pride.

She then held the ashes of the flower and wept bitterly, knowing now that, due to her own foolishness, she could no longer heal and recreate.

She could now only destroy.

She had become precisely what she had wanted to be. Aliscea was now nothing but a weapon.

A weapon that could only bring forth Death.

Oh, weapons could be useful….

But, there were times when they would need one who could both destroy _and_ heal.

And, even though Aliscea did not realize this….

Earth and Pellias would suffer horribly over the next few decades due to her pride.

.

**III. ARGUMENTS AND LOSS…**

**Earth**

**Rio Amarillo Apartment Complex**

**Lynn Westland's Apartment**

**Saturday, April 15, 2208**

**1302 Hours Local Time**

Naturally, the mere humans in San Diego were unaware (as of yet) of Aliscea's Confrontation with Ekogaru and of her great Fall.

The only inkling anyone had of it was a weird, uncanny sense that Nova described to Derek later that day. She could only describe it as, "the weird feeling you get when you know, or guess, someone is walking over your own grave. It was the strangest thing…a feeling that…a feeling I can't describe…"

Hardy knelt holding some ice that Lynn had gotten for him as he heard Dawn screaming and crying, and he asked, "Hey, Nova…what's wrong withcha? Beside your cheek…?"

"Nothing," she said in a very tired voice. "But…something weird has happened…somewhere…"

"Yeah. My wife is bein' a bitch and she belted both o' us," said Jefferson.

"No, Jeff," Nova said. "This is worse…far, _far _worse….I can't describe it…there was ...something about Trelaina…her image was in my head for a minute…she…"

"Ain't she kinda dead?" Jefferson said.

"With her, how do we know?" Nova said.

In the meantime, Lynn Westland was busy.

After getting Jeff and Nova their ice, Lynn came in, to find Dawn dressed in one of her old Rancho Carne High School lettermen's jackets, a sports bra, maternity shorts, and backless sandals. Above the open neckline of her jacket, Dawn had again put on her old Star Pendant, and she was rocking back and forth, crying and holding an old picture of Deke.

"What brings this on?" said Lynn.

"FUCK OFF, MOM!" she yelled. "I want to have my picture taken with Deekee!"

"Number one, Sasha calls him that now…'

"To Hell with that Iscandarian Floozie and her goofy hypocrite aunt out there!" yelled Dawn. "Deke and I have been friends since babyhood. I want to share this with him, and I want HIM in the room when I have my twins!"

"I don't think he should be there. Unless you are implying Jefferson is not their father? What really happened to you in that cave on that planet?"

"Deke and I kissed and cuddled…we did NOT do the Deed! I did it with Jeff! Although, given the way everyone is reacting, maybe I _should_ have let Deke screw me, too!"

"What?" said Lynn.

"Then one baby could have been Jeff's and one baby could have been Deekee's!" she yelled. "Or maybe I should have let them have a threesome with me at the same time! The Iscandarian Floozie was joking about that one night when we had a poker game running on the ship and everyone but Nova was hitting the beer!"

"What did Nova think of Sasha's comments?"

"She grabbed her by the wrist, reamed her out, and said it was not funny!"

"Good for her. Because this isn't funny any more, Dawn! In fact, it is getting on borderline sick."

"Yeah…Floozie was pretty sick, too. She was even joking about doing it with her Auntie and Uncle and letting Deekee film it! She was as drunk as hell!" Something like that had been said…but not by Sasha. Dawn had made those comments when _she_ had been drunk.

"Dawn…" Lynn sighed. "Take off that high school jacket."

"And go out in my sports bra?" she snapped.

"On a near hundred-degree day, it might look better than your trying to hide your baby bump under that jacket. Because half of your stomach is showing, anyway….look!" said Lynn as she marched Dawn in front of a full-length mirror. "In this weather, you should either have that covered up with a maternity blouse or just keep that stomach exposed under a suitable top. When you have those kids and begin giving them your breasts, you will be exposing your stomach and underpants when they both get hungry at once…at the very least…if you choose not to just go naked under your clothes for convenience, that is. I think you'd look cute nursing almost exposed in a sundress or even naked when you get your figure back…so long as you don't sit there with your legs open, that is. I did it with you…and Jeff will love it."

"I'm supposed to attract him…why?"

"The process of nursing babies usually causes your sex drive to nosedive, with the exception of a few very lucky souls like Nova, who told me she didn't suffer much of a hormonal drop and who has said she loves her husband in that way as much as ever. When your drive decreases, you will want to do something to make sure you and Jeff remain connected and close…and one way is to get him involved with you and the babies. Let him help bathe them, change their diapers, put them in your lap when it's feeding time…help you adjust your breasts right so you can nurse…cuddle you while you do that…."

"I would not want him touching my breasts when I nurse!" yelled Dawn. "And who says I'm going to even breastfeed, anyway?"

"Dawn, it's the norm these days," Lynn said. "Formula is hard to come by and has to be prescribed. Bottles are hard to come by. With what the military needs in the way of plastic and chemicals, the Earth Government expects you to use what God _gave you_ to nurse your young with. "

"I'm not taking off my high school jacket, Mom! I want Deekee to see me in it! In fact, I think I'm having my babies with my old Lettermen's Sweater on!"

"Dawn…now that is weird," sighed Lynn. "You should wear a nightgown, hospital gown, t-shirt, or preferably your birthday suit when you have those kids."

"Yeah…Miss Hypocrite out there gave birth stark bloody naked.." snapped Dawn.

"So did I when I had you," said Lynn. "Look at the old baby pictures I kept when you were born. I have you against my breast under the blanket, but it is no secret that my shoulders were bare in the picture…that's because the _rest_ of me was bare, too. And in the hospital, the nurse in charge of feedings, the "Boob Nazi" as we called her…she made me lie there in the altogether as I mastered the art of feeding you."

"I still want a picture of Deke and I together…" said Dawn.

"Then ask him, Jeff, and Sasha, and pull out your own camera and hope Sasha will take the picture," snapped Lynn. "Because I know Nova won't, I won't either, and don't even ask Derek, because I know he feels the same way as Nova. In fact, between me and you, he's getting just as creeped out over you and Deke being overfriendly as Nova and Sasha are."

"Figures they'd all _stick together_…they're family and they're all fucking hypocrites!" huffed Dawn. "Leave me alone in here until I hear Deekee in there with _her_." Dawn said.

"Okay…one thing, though."

"Yes, Mother?"

"I strongly suggest you stop calling him "Deekee", especially around Sasha. Because that is what Deke's _wife_ Sasha calls him now. Are we clear on that?"

Dawn just glared at her mother as she left the room. Then she sat and cried, muttering, "why did I ever dump him in High School? I could have had him now! I could have been with him now! Deekee should have put these little monsters inside me…NOT her!" she yelled as she felt her babies kicking inside her.

Then, Dawn just threw herself on the bed and cried, thinking vile thoughts…thinking of divorcing Jefferson and moving in with Deekee and Sasha…getting Deekee to divorce the Iscandarian Floozie…and if that didn't work…she thought of just taking an overdose…and ending it all.

Dawn hated her life. And she was just miserable.

When Lynn came out, she heard laughter in the living room, and saw a much more pleasant scene.

Sasha was kneeling on the blanket as Nova was hitting her with a powder puff while Deke tenderly brushed out her long, pretty golden hair.

Sasha had just taken off her top (a small cropped top) and her sandals and she had also apprently just opened up her shorts, since she was now almost undressed for her pictures with Deke. She looked considerably happier than Dawn did, and she looked positively bubbly.

In fact, when she spotted Lynn, she gently gave Alex back to Nova (she had been playing with his toes and making him giggle) and she flounced up and kissed Lynn. "Hi, Mrs. Westland!" she said. "I hope you don't mind that Deekee and I use your living room for this! Otherwise, we'd have to pack it all up and go to Auntie Nova's! In my present delicate condition, my carrying around heavy lights might be dangerous," she said with a very cute wink as she stood there topless,

"You can call me Lynn," laughed Lynn, who was getting to like Deke's cute, smart, and effervescent young blond wife the more she got to know her. She was thinking, more and more, than Deke had definitely made the right choice when he had hooked up with Sasha; almost every gesture between them indicated the sort of happiness, respect, friendship, love, and tenderness that had once existed between Deke and Dawn.

Also, Lynn couldn't help noticing, as Sasha finished taking off her clothes, that with her curvy build, she looked downright _hot_ even while pregnant, and didn't seem to have very much discomfort at all about her body. However, Lynn also noticed that Hardy was nowhere to be found. "Where's Jeff?" she asked,

"He and Deke talked a bit, and he went over to our place," Nova said. "Derek called me; they're having some beers together right now…and he's venting to Derek, about…you know…what happened before," Nova said with downcast eyes. "Is she all right in there? She can come out if she wants…I'll even photograph her and Sasha together if they want…they're sort of like honorary sisters…"

"That fits," said Sasha. "I still don't get along with my sister Astra, and I don't get along with _her_, either! I don't dig sisters much. I have a better groove with Mother or with Auntie Surfer here. Did you ever know she surfs, Lynn?"

"Not very well," Nova laughed. "I wipe out a lot! Good thing I'm a strong swimmer, or I would've been fish food years ago."

"You're better than you think!" Sasha laughed as Deke kissed her from behind. "Since I can't exactly boogie right now on a board, I order you to take Deekee surfing later," Sasha said. "Got a board?"

"I do…I think I have to find just the right swimsuit," Nova said. "Although if it gets a bit hotter, I'll probably try surfing those waves in the nude or something sometime…but only with Derek," Nova said. "I miss him…I wish he was over here…"

"Call him then…he's right next door," said Deke.

"No, he's too involved with Jeff," said Sasha quietly. "I sense a lot of anger coming off Jeff right now. And who can blame him?"

Sasha then knelt down on the blanket, fully nude, for the first of her pictures.

At Nova's direction, the young Princess hugged her stomach, wiggled up her toes slightly, and then she thrust out her breasts on her own as she gave a winning smile to Deke.

The shots went quickly, and Sasha made a perky, adorable subject…even letting Deke kiss her bare stomach for several of the shots, and smiling as Alex crawled up in her lap and she played with him. She dressed quickly when she was done, and then she and Deke sat drinking sodas while Nova packed up the photography equipment with Lynn and Deke's help. After a phone call, Derek came back over with Ariel.

Then, they both collected the photography equipment, with Deke's help, and took it home.

As Sasha finished pulling on her clothes, though, she suddenly felt a strange sense of loss, betrayal and pain.

Then, not knowing what she felt…or why, she heard her mother's voice sounding in her mind. "Sasha, my love….we have just suffered….just suffered a great loss…".

"Mother?" said Sasha.

"Sasha, you must be more wary than ever from now on. For yourself, and for the daughter within you. Ekogaru and Aliscea fought today. In spirit."

"And?" Sasha said.

"Sasha…Ekogaru was wounded. So badly that he must leave Earth for a time. However, in wounding him, Aliscea had a chance to defeat him, which she _squandred _in her pride. Then, she had a chance to redeem herself by yielding her power up to Another…who COULD have defeated him today, even though the Anointing would have been very sudden and it would have been an utter shock to the Matrix's new bearer. Although…maybe…this was meant to happen this way. I do foresee that this will pass to another….but, I do not believe this new Bearer, whoever she is, is ready yet. A number of faces appear to me, and I do not think any of them are near ready. But…still…still…we must keep watch!"

Sasha nodded. She felt worse than ever.

In the meantime, more or less innocent as to what was going on around them in the spirit world, Nova Wildstar sat innocently in her garden in San Diego, where she was busy harvesting a sunflower, from which she would harvest sunflower seeds, some of which she would turn into sunflower oil for her kitchen.

Derek showed up, smiled, and took a snapshot of her in the garden. Aware of his presence, Nova gave her husband a sweet, happy look, and said, "Funny that you're taking pictures of me now. I don't look very glamorous in my messy old clothes."

"But you do look awfully _cute_," said Derek as he smiled at her. "Why are you pulling up your sunflowers?"

"We need the seeds and oil," Nova sighed. "Now there's _cooking oil_ shortages in the stores. Good thing we have victory gardens both here and back on Great Island, Derek. I've also been helping Lynn and Sasha in getting gardens set up. Lynn's good at it. Sasha's…kind of hopeless," Nova said with a laugh. "But she'll get it eventually."

"You've got pregnant women working in their gardens?" Derek said.

"Derek, I worked in the garden when I was expecting," Nova said. "Both here _and_ on the ship. Remember? God gave me two arms, two hands, two legs, two feet. I think it's a person's duty to be useful. Sloth breeds pride. And when you grow pride in your heart, well, that's nothing but the Devil's playground."

"So it's your job to get durty?"

Nova nodded. "Uh-huh. Very dirty…at least until I get these flowers harvested…I…"

Derek knelt beside her in the dirt and put an arm around her. "Bring those things in the house and throw them in the pantry bin…"

"Then?" Nova said.

"Get these dirty clothes in the hamper…and then, get in the shower with me?" Derek whispered as he smiled at her and began to unbutton her light cotton

blouse. He got far enough to tease one of her nipples, and to stroke her breast. "You need a shower. You're sweaty…you're dirty…"

"I think you're the one who's being dirty, Derek!" Nova said as she looked around, saw no one watching, and began to kiss him. "Just watch out for…"

"What?" said Derek….

Then, they heard a buzzing noise.

Nova looked down at her sandal-clad foot and shivered. Crawling up her bare big toe….

….was a bee…

"B…bbb…bb..beee" Nova said. "Look…." She began to sweat. "Hi…Ms. Bee.." she stammered with a nervous giggle. "Please….don't…sting me…I'm…allergic…to you…"

"Stupid bee on my wife…" Derek said as he grabbed a bit of newspaper Nova had some of her gardening tools wrapped in. "Well…you're gonna be dead soon…"

"Derek…don't kill it…..we….need them to pollinate things…." The bee went away, and Nova calmed down a moment later. "What a weird life I lead. I'm going to be a doctor soon. But I hate needles in me and the sight of my own blood. I love to garden…but I have to be careful of bees because I'm allergic to them and swell up when I get stung and I am therefore scared of them….you married a really weird girl, Derek."

"Nova, everyone is afraid of _something_. I'm afraid of snakes even though I love exploring jungles, and when I'm not up in a plane in control of the situation, I'm afraid of heights. You, on the other hand, have no fear of snakes and no fear of heights whatsoever. And, you have no fear of strange Captains teasing you in gardens," Derek said as he finished unbuttoning her blouse, baring her breasts and stomach to the sun. He got her to stand up, and Nova kicked off her shoes and began to dance barefoot with her husband as they did an amusing tango in the bare dirt of the garden, safe from prying eyes behind their hedges.

But, as she danced, Nova felt something crawling up her thigh….something that was not Derek's hand.

It crawled up beneath her shorts….

Nova then felt something crawling on a sensitive spot and she screeched. She then pulled away from Derek, jumped back, abruptly unbuttoned her shorts, and let them drop down her otherwise bare lower body as the bee crawled up to her lower abdomen, buzzed around a little, lit on her trembling belly button, and then took off, leaving poor Nova alone but sweaty and now almost naked in the sun in an open sweaty blouse and shorts that were now down around her ankles.

"Derek…that bee made me strip! Did you pay it a bribe to do that?"

"Nova…I don't pay bribes to bees…" he said as he kissed Nova and relieved her of her blouse; now they both matched as they were both bare-chested. Then, he got out of his flip-flops and put a bare foot on Nova's shorts in the grass. "Step out of those…that's nice…"

Nova tiptoed naked over to her husband, batting her eyes at him and blushing as he put his hands on her bare bottom, and then smiled softly as his fingers found other regions. Nova opened his shorts and pulled them down, revealing his maleness as she said, "You didn't put on undies today, either, Mister…cute! Now…let's get behind the sunflowers…"

"And?" said Derek.

Nova smiled and responded only by bending over and kissing him as they fell together with her on top in the dirt…right before she smiled and gently took him in her mouth, bending over him in a little ball as she put up her bottom, her breathing speeding up as his hands found her most delicate spot. He began to tease and explore her there, his practiced hands making a force like benign electricity run through Nova's body as she began to moan softly…even with him in her mouth….

A few minutes passed…tender, affectionate minutes, and then, Nova shifted gears, pulled up off of her husband, and pulled away from him. Then, Mrs. Wildstar mounted her Commodore with a pleasant gasp, riding him in her garden on the balls of her feet, smiling, laughing, kissing, and then moaning and gasping as she rode to a very satisfactory conclusion for both of them as they collapsed in post-lovers' bliss down among the sunflowers, vegetables, daisies, and buttercups of Nova's warm garden.

They listened for the sound of the babies on the baby monitor. Not hearing anything, they just kissed and lay there naked in each other's arms until they drifted off into a lovely, sweet nap….

A while later, the warm sun woke them up. They kissed, went in and showered and got dressed in cool clothing similar to the sweaty things they had taken off (Nova now wore a favorite white top of hers and Capri pants, and Derek wore a pair of denim shorts and a white shirt), and they went back into the apartment to check on Alex and Ariel, who were just fine. They played with them in the living room for a while, and then put them in their playpen while Derek dragged out a pair of guitar amps and plugged them in. Then, he handed Nova the case that contained the white Fender Stratocaster she had owned since their wedding day, and he opened a case that held a new gift Nova had bought him; it was a Fender Jazz Bass. He knew how to play lead guitar somewhat, but they had a special appearance coming up at a Pan-Am University event in town in just a few weeks, and their little band needed a bassist, so Derek found himself recruited to become the group's new bass player, with Nova teaching him how to play it. While Nova tuned up, tapping her bare foot against the rug as she did chord runs, Derek ran his fingers over the heavy strings and worked on some scales.

Nova stopped, frowned at him a little and said, "Derek, hon, you're supposed to hit a C on that scale…but it keeps on coming out as a B sharp."

"How would you know that? It doesn't sound much different?"

"Oh, believe me, sir, I can tell," Nova said as she walked over to him in her white top with her guitar strapped on. She gave him a kiss and arranged his hands somewhat on the fretless neck of his bass. "This one will give you a perfect C…now hit that note with your plec…"

Derek did so, repeating the note a few times as he strummed the string with his heavy bass pick, or "plec" as guitar players called it. He did the run again, slowly, and said, "Is that better, Mother?"

Nova giggled and said, "Aye, it is, Dad," she said in a mock-Scottish voice that sounded funny coming out of her. "Now, let's try a song again…."_I'm Still Standing_" You have to keep the beat on this one with that bass run you play, so keep us going…."

Derek nodded and stepped back, tapping his bare foot against the rug. "On four..ready..one…two..three…_fah_…"

Derek led off, a bit rough, but serviceable enough for Nova as she hit the first chord like a pro as she began to sing the song in a sultry but clear voice, "_You Can Never Know what it's like..your blood is like a winter freeze, it's just like ice…"_ while she grinned and nodded at Derek. He was rough but coming along. She liked his harmonies better as he sang along and backed her up in the song….

…just as the door opened, and Jonathan and his girlfriend Felicia ran in with Michelle, her boyfriend (who was a young Puerto Rican teenager named Carlos Feliz), followed by Karl and Teri Forrester, little Aurora and David, and, last of all, Foxy and Katrina.

Katrina stood spellbound and shocked at the song, remembering how she had played it on the New Comet when she had begun to defy Ekogaru and her generals and had begun to make her own way when she had gone mad and trashed her suite to the same song. Still, despite herself, she wiped away a tear and tapped her foot a little while David and Aurora giggled, picking Alex and Ariel up out of their playpen to "dance" with the babies while Carlos and Michelle laughed at each other and began to twist while Jonathan jumped on the couch with Felicia and began to exuberantly pound out a beat on a couch cushion.

Karl smiled and tapped his foot a little in the house slipper he had put on while Teri glared at Nova_. I did not give you all of those lessons to play pop crap!_ Teri thought. _You should be playing some Spanish classical guitar with that crazy white thing, at least…all you're doing instead is playing two-hundred year old Brit-pop noise! He's making you into a Philistine, Nova!_

"_,,,did you think this fool could never win?_" Nova sang as Teri just kept on glaring at her. She sang more words, and exuberantly hit the refrain, smiling right at her mother as she shook her head, looked at Derek with her hair flying, and sang, "_I'm Still Standin…better than I ever did! Looking like a true survivor….feeling like a little kid! I'm Still Standing…after all this time….pickin up the pieces of my life without you on my mind! I'm Still Standin…YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!_" Nova and Derek sang loudly together, grinning as they sang and played, and almost kissing as they did the refrain again.

Now, the memories of her recent life flowed through Invidia's mind, and she thought, _Biggest irony of the year! My former enemies like one of the songs I do…and they actually sing and play not half-bad!_

Deke and Sasha heard the music and ran in. Sasha handed Deke his sticks as he sat down and threw a practice pad on a table as he also helped Jonathan keep the beat with his sticks.

At the bridge, Nova switched to lead, and improvised a lead that set Teri's teeth on edge as the musician in her admitted grudgingly that her kid was good…_But why can't she play something romantic?_ Teri thought to herself.

Finally, they got done and they applauded. Nova took off her guitar for a moment and stretched as Derek said, "Hey, before dinner, let's do one I can play lead on before I wrap it up; you game?"

"Yes, I think I want to try out the keyboard you got me the other day," Nova said as she sat down at a small electronic keyboard. Derek set aside the bass and put on Nova's guitar while his spouse got the keyboard up. "Mind if we do one more?" Nova said. "Any requests?"

"Something sweet," Teri said.

"I've got one in mind, but Derek has to sing it…from that movie about us? Derek, do _From Yamato With Love_…you sound better on those Japanese lyrics than I do."

"_Hai, so desu_," Derek replied in Japanese with a grin. He called out the beat as Nova began by playing the proper chords on her keyboard while Derek took up the guitar. He began to sing in a mellow, youthful-sounding voice that most of those there, even Teri, admitted sounded good as Deke took up the beat slowly on his pad on the second verse. Everyone in the Star Force had seen the recently released sentimental fictionalized treatment of the first Comet Empire campaign a few times over, and there were rumors that the same producers were casting for a sequel telling the story of the New Comet's return. Even Katrina had seen the movie; her character (Invidia) only had a small part in it, but she almost felt as if she had been watching a stranger as she saw her character scheming against Desslok, while her mental motivations for being so vile were not shown in the movie (because no one on Earth but Foxy knew them, of course. She also hated that the movie had made Desslok the honorable, noble antihero…she felt then and still felt that the Gamilon Leader was nothing but an oppportunist with no honor. She felt as if she wanted to tell her friends on Earth not to trust him; and she felt that, someday, he would find out where she was and stab her in the back.

Finally, the song ended. The little group applauded as Derek blushed and said, "Yeah, yeah…we need work!"

"I can get you guys a recording contract tomorrow," said Foxy. "Wanna begin working on an album?"

"Not likely, Foxy," Nova said. "We have lives to pursue…" Alex began to cry, so Nova went and picked him up, signalling Derek to come over and get Ariel.

Nova smiled as Alex grabbed at her chest, so she and Derek excused themselves and went into the nursery for a while. In there, Derek spread out a small futon and helped Nova out of her shirt as she lay down with the twins to feed them while grabbing up a set of headphones and a portable music player as she sat there topless in her Capris. "Want me to stay with you guys?" Derek said as he sat down on the futon with them.

"We have our guests, Derek," Nova said. "They need dinner, so let's order out for something, How much money do you have?"

"About sixty credits."

"There's a hundred in my purse in the bedroom," Nova said. "Go take it all and get everyone fed and make sure you leave Chan a good tip if you call out to China Moon," Nova said, bringing up a favorite Chinese restaurant they had used a lot recently; they were actually friends with the delivery man. "Order me some orange flavored chicken, and make sure those guys don't forget the rice; that's the one time I didn't leave Chan a good tip is when they forgot it.."

"Okay, Nova…see you later." He reached down and kissed her, his son, and his daughter and let them be as he ran out to begin ordering food.

Later, after dinner and after everyone left, while Alex and Ariel slept and Jonathan worked on some of his homework, Nova and Derek took a walk in the park in the nature preserve near the beach; they both put on sandals for the walk but otherwise looked the same as they had before.

"I didn't see Dawn before," Nova said. "I saw Jeff, and I saw Lynn, but I didn't see Dawn. I hope she's all right."

"Even after she slapped you before?" Derek teased.

"I'm over that," Nova sighed. "But if she does it again, she'd better see a dentist."

"I'm afraid to ask why," Derek said.

"I might take out some teeth," Nova said. "Without benefit of Novocain or Penthothal, and…oh, what I'm I saying? She's pregnant, poor thing. It makes you crazy to do that?"

"To do what?"

"Be pregnant," Nova huffed. "You were around me," she said as she wiggled her toes up in her comfortable brown sandals. "I sort of took leave of my senses at times, and had a rough time with my emotions, as I am sure you remember quite well. Being pregnant and having kids changed me a bit. If I think of butter pecan ice cream, I want a whole container of it, I tear up whenever I hear a baby crying…anywhere, because I think of our angels, and with my ankles swollen up, I wore sandals so much that I think I might still want to wear them up until when it gets too cold to…."

Nova then paused as she looked up at the Sun. "Are they still analyzing that, Derek? The Sun? I mean, ever since that Bolar missile hit it?"

"Sandor did tell me they have picked up more sunspots that usual…he wants to see all of us at his lab in a few weeks when he has more data…and he'll present his results to the Council then. He's working with some astrophysicist from the Federal University about it…"

"Yeah…" Nova said. "I hope and pray nothing more comes of this, Derek…"

"Me too," he replied as he lay back in the grass watching the clouds. "Hey, Nova. What does that cloud look like?"

"A cat," she replied. "She's playing with one of her kittens, see the kitten between her paws?"

"Yeah…why are you thinking about kittens?"

"Doctor Sane told me Mimi's pregnant again. Her third litter is on its way. I think we'll have some kittens to play with in a few weeks if Fluffy doesn't get jealous," Nova said. "The babies will love them, I think. I think kittens and babies go together…"

"Like peanut butter and jelly?" said Derek.

"Like toast and orange marmalade," Nova said as she lay back and began to sing, "_Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes…"_ She then hummed to herself as she picked a dandelion and handed it to Derek. "Sorry, dear…I could only find one. Hey, where are you putting that?" she giggled.

"In your hair behind your ear. I want Jonathan to see you looking like that. I think he complimented you before when he said you were the only Mom he's had who looked young enough to be his big sister."

"He's so cute sometimes," Nova said. "Even if I had to yell at him to turn down that Toxic Red Sludge band he listens to. Is that stuff music or electronic noise?"

"Not sure," said Derek. "But I kind of like them…I…"

"You would," Nova sighed. But, she patted him on the arm and said, "Let's see what happens in a few days, huh?"

"Okay…"

**IV. A NEW LIFE COMING AT LAST…**

**Earth**

**Rio Amarillo Apartment Complex**

**Deke and Sasha Wakefield's Apartment**

**Friday, April 28, 2208**

**0802 Hours Local Time**

Morning came early for Deke Wakefield in the apartment he shared with Sasha at the complex.

He and Sasha had been up at 0600, when Sasha, now more heavily pregnant than ever, began their day by waking up early, eating breakfast, and vomiting most of it up, apologizing because she said she had a strange, full feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She walked around in just a maternity robe that Lynn had made for her, feeling more unpleasant than ever as she thought_, It has now been a year since Deke and I have been married. A whole year. And, I know the prophecies…and I know what will happen…what is prophesied to happen…today…._

Sasha coughed and undid her robe, letting her full breasts and pregnant stomach just spill out. Then, she slipped out of her flip-flops and left them neatly by the door of the bathroom where she also hung her robe.

"Deekee!" she called out. "I'm taking a shower. Then, maybe…just maybe…we can go out for breakfast?"

"Sure, Sasha. I'm having a cigarette. Remember, we have to go to the beach at La Jolla for the memorial for my parents and for Kathi, so we have to go there after breakfast!" Deke said.

"Oh, right," Sasha said. "Darn hormones. I'm so absent-minded I forgot it. Please forgive me?"

"Forgiven," said deke as he kissed her.

Their apartment was near the top of a hill, and was one of those that overlooked the beach; so they could see most of what was going on out there. While Sasha arranged things in the shower, she called out, "Deekee! Just curious…who's on the beach?"

"Good thing we took a week's leave today," said Deke. He went outside on the balcony that faced their backyard and he looked out towards the beach as he stood there in his Hawaiian-print surfer baggies and nothing else. "Sasha, I see one person out there with a dog, someone with a baby…and the Skipper and Nova."

"What are Uncle and Auntie up to?"

"Well, they have on swimsuits and they're kicking a volleyball around….right on the wet part of the sand where it gets hard…and…Sasha? Sasha?"

"Oh…my…God!" screamed Sasha from the bathroom.

Deke ran in. He heard the sound of running water…but it sounded a bit slow and sluggish. "Sasha? Is something wrong with the shower? _Sasha_?"

Deke opened up the shower enclosure and looked in at Sasha. She was, of course, naked, and she was looking with mixed wonder and fear at a puddle growing between her legs in the shower…which was not running.

"Sasha?"

"Deke…I think…look…my water just burst. Our baby's coming!" she said with a look of joy and anguish combined on her face. "And it hurts! Nova never communicated this part clearly to me…I detected her pain and damped it when she was having her kids..but…"

"How frequently are the pains coming?" Deke asked.

Sasha held a hold rail in the shower and gasped, curling her toes as she stood there. Then, she looked at Deke and said, "That one is over…maybe…every….every three minutes?"

Deke got in the shower with her in his swimsuit, with his hands trembling as he turned the water on low and began to gently wash Sasha clean. He kissed her and said, "Put on your oldest underwear…and then your robe and thongs. Move slowly. We have some time, but I have to get you right to San Diego Central. I'll be right back; I'm gonna go see if Nova can come with us so she can rush you through Admissions and get you in there with Doctor Sane…"

"Good idea….I'm supposed to have a labor room on call, and…can you drive, dear? Your hands are shaking."

"I have to drive…" Deke said. "Get ready…I'll be back with Nova in maybe five minutes." Deke kissed Sasha, kicked on a pair of regular sandals, and ran towards the beach as fast as his legs would take him.

Deke ran right up onto the beach just in time to notice Nova with her volleyball in hand, as she said to Derek, "You might be surprised to see how far this serve will go with the wind right…get back a bit!"

"We don't even have a net up yet, Poindexter!" he teased. He had on a black Speedo while Nova had on a pretty one-piece French cut suit with a floral design all over it, along with her EDF dog tags and cross.

"Well, would you go back to our place and get one?" Nova said. "I…"

Then, they both noticed Deke running up, looking very flustered and very much out of breath.

"Hey, Sticks," teased Wildstar. "What is it?"

"Derek, he's been running like crazy!" Nova said as she sat down on the sand next to Deke and patted his arm. "Okay, what is it?" Nova said in what were meant to be soothing tones.

"Sasha. Her water just broke…kid's on the way…."

"Damnit!" yelled Derek. "Nova, go get some water boiling…"

"Derek…that's not what they need right now. They need to get to San Diego Central; Doc Sane and I have this all set up," she said as she tossed Derek the volleyball. "Deke, did you see any bloody show?"

"Bloody show? What's that?" Wakefield said, a bit overwhelmed at the childbirth knowledge that Nova was shooting at him for a moment until he remembered, The cervical mucus plug…right. "No" Deke replied.

"How far apart are the contractions?" Nova asked as she picked up the pace and began to jog.

"Maybe three or four minutes," said Deke.

"She was probably going along for a bit without knowing it like I did," Nova said as she glanced at Derek and they picked their pace up to a run. "Derek, tell Jonathan he will have to miss school today; he has to help you with the kids since I'm not going to be home for several hours. Get some spare towels from the bathroom for us and I'll get some medical equipment from my closet along with some more clothes; I'll just need my white sandals and a lab coat. When we leave, call ahead to Central at extension 2341 and give them my CNP/Cert Midwife Number; I've got admitting privileges for situations like these. I want Sane there, but if we can't find him, I'll have to marshal the troops myself. Got that?"

Derek nodded and Deke ran back to the apartment.

He went in and held Sasha's hand. "How are the contractions?"

"Coming…three minutes…apart.." Sasha grunted as she sat on the floor on a towel, clad in old underpants, her white robe trimmed in baby blue, and baby blue flip-flops. All of these were ironic since they knew the coming baby would be a girl, but blue _was_ Sasha's favorite color. There was a small suitcase nearby that held her things.

A moment later, someone banged on the door, and Nova and Derek burst in together. Nova now wore a lab coat over her swimsuit, and sandals on her bare feet, and she had on a stethoscope and was carrying a white nurse's bag. "Need your vitals, Sasha," Nova said, all business as she rolled up her sleeve and put on a blood pressure cuff. "Derek, stick around for my phone call," Nova said as she looked at her husband, who had on his Star Force whites now.

"Fine…I'll be on the ship part of the day. I already called the school and told them Jonathan won't be in; family emergency," Derek said. The authorities at Jonathan's school knew of Jonathan's family situation with two parents in the EDF, with Derek on active duty and Nova on reserve duty, so they didn't question things too much, especially when one of the two Star Force heroes signed his absence notes. The school also knew that the fifteen-year old boy was an excellent student and was becoming a student leader in his Junior Space Cadet Corps unit, so they tended to question very little about the Wildstars' parenting. And Jonathan adored both of his parents and loved the fact that they were both pretty good athletes and fun people when they let their hair down.

Wildstar left, and Deke was relieved to hear from Nova that Sasha's blood pressure and pulse were fine; she was on the phone with someone at the hospital snapping numbers over the phone as she listened to Sasha's heart and her stomach through her opened robe with her stethoscope, spotting both Sasha's heartbeat and the baby's heartbeat. "She's in good shape," Nova said over the phone. "The baby's active and wants out of there. Delivery Suite 203B? Good. Page Doctor Sakezo Sane, please, and get me a Maternity Floor nurse and a good LPN. Roger that," Nova said. "Time of departure is 0846. I estimate the patient has been in labor for maybe three hours. We are taking the personal vehicle of the patient's partner. Clear space for us at Emergency."

Soon, they all crammed into Deke's fairly new purple 2207 Plymouth Barracuda, with Nova squeezing herself and her bag into the backseat while Sasha was helped into the passenger seat by Deke. Deke then got into the cockpit, locked up, and took off with a screech of his tires as he flew through the complex and then signalled for a turn onto the main street that ran near their complex.

Then, Deke took off as if the Hounds of Hell were after him, driving the car as if he was flying a Tiger, not caring about red lights or speed limits as he blasted through traffic; not knowing why he was not getting pulled over to be given several tickets.

They arrived at EDF Central Hospital: San Diego Region, maybe fifteen minutes later. Everything was a total blur for Sasha as she felt anxiety and pain as she went upstairs in a wheelchair pushed by Deke while Nova swabbed her forehead with a wet wipe and checked her pulse every minute or so.

Before Sasha knew it, she was in the comfortable-looking delivery suite where the hot and sweaty mother-to-be was helped into bed and tenderly but quickly stripped naked by both Nova and Deke.

"How are you?" said Deke as Nova stood at the sink running some water as she scubbed up and got some instruments out from cabinets.

"Hot…" Sasha gasped. "The contractions are maybe two minutes apart now, but they're sort of gentler," Sasha said. "Is someone going to wash me?"

"I will," said Nova as she came over with a cart with a basin on it. "Deke, give me a hand with this until the others arrive? And you'll need to get into scrubs in a minute."

"No problem," said Deke as he kissed Sasha and began to wash her.

Nova then looked at Sasha as she put an ID bracelet on her and asked, "Do you want a gown on, or are you happy like this in the nude?"

"I'm fine like this, Auntie…just like you were…I'm so HOT!"

"Yeah, I gotcha," Nova laughed, remembering how hot she had been when she had been having Alex and Ariel just under eight months ago. "Well, we're here again, Sasha, but now the roles are reversed." Then, Nova said, "Are you using your powers to help calm yourself like you helped to calm me?"

"I'm trying," gasped Sasha as another contraction came. "It's harder to do when the pain is coming right out of you, and easier when it is in someone else…"

"I see," said Nova. Doctor Sane came in a moment later, carrying Mimi in one hand and a bottle of sake in the other. He let Mimi run free, and the cat promptly jumped up on the bed, meowed at Sasha (making her smile) and began to purr and nuzzle Sasha's bare toes, making her giggle as she lay there. Doctor Sane scrubbed as Nova got Deke his scrubs (and made him strip before putting them on with his flip-flops) and then he came over and checked Sasha. "Hmmm..four centimeters, Sasha. Pretty good," he said as he popped open his sake bottle and took a good sip. "Mmmm…this is good stuff. One sip for good luck, Nova?"

Nova nodded, guessing one sip would not hurt either her or her kids, because she would not be reunited with her babies to nurse them for several hours. Nova took the sake bottle and took a quick sip, and licked her lips a little as a quick, nice warm glow went down her body to her toes. "Nice stuff, Doctor!" Nova said with a laugh. "No, Deke, this is not going to be a sake bash!" giggled Nova. "I can only take one sip. Hi, Natalie!"

Nova's old friend Natalie Fisher gave Nova a quick hug and said, "I just got reassigned to Maternity, and the first case I get, _you_ show up. Neat-o!"

Nova then looked at the LPN who came in, and she rolled up her eyes at the young nurse. The newcomer had bright red hair that seemed to be dyed, and she wore a sleeveless nurse's tunic (not that unusual in the heat) and white sandals (like all of the nurses present), but while both Nova and Natalie went bare-legged beneath their lab coats, the newcomer wore white fishnet hose. Nova looked at her and said, "Miss, what's your name and rank?"

"Acting Ensign Vanessa Smythe, ma'am; third-year ROTC student from Pan-Am University; transfer from Queen's College in London," the newcomer said through her nose in a very pronounced British accent; being yet another one of the nursing students on the planet given Acting Ensign status and put to work part-time so their skills would be put to some use between classes due to a vast, continuing shortage of medical professionals on Earth. In fact, that was how and why Nova had become a practicing nurse and Acting Ensign herself in early February 2199 before her twenty-first birthday. "Ma'am, before you tell me my uniform is non-regulation, may I say that, with all respect, ma'am, I do not believe a halter-top swimsuit is regulation wear under a Type 2B labcoat?"

"That's not important for now," said Nova as she walked over to a cabinet and got some saline solution in an IV bag. "What is important is our patient."

Doctor Sane looked at Sasha and said, "You're going to feel some sticky things on you in a few minutes as we put some remote sensors on your body, OK?"

Sasha smiled and nodded, gasping "Sure" before a hard contraction came and she began to cry.

Deke was at her side, smiling and soothing her by rubbing her wrist while Nova smiled at her, pushed back her bangs, and wiped her forehead before swabbing her wrist. "Sasha, keep your wrist straight….there's going to be a little pinch while we get your IV set up…okay?"

Sasha nodded, trying to be brave even though she felt like screaming and yelling at Deke at times. She knew it was going to be an ordeal, but she was ready for it, already in psychic contact with the tiny baby within her as her labor continued. Sasha was in touch with the baby, her own body, her own pain, and Deke, and she was focusing on them, so she was ignorant, in spite of her powers, of the chaos going on elsewhere at the Rio Amarillo complex located a few kilometers away at the shore line…

**V. DAWN RAGES AGAINST FATE**

**Earth**

**Rio Amarillo Apartment Complex**

**Jefferson and Dawn Hardy's Apartment**

**Friday, April 28, 2208**

**1032 Hours Local Time**

"**DAMN YOU!"** yelled Dawn Hardy as she screamed and wept while sitting on the floor in her Rancho Carne High School Letterman's sweater and battered cutoff shorts while rocking back and forth.

Jefferson Hardy was bleeding from his nose in shock and anger since Dawn had just belted him good with a used Chianti bottle (with woven basket on the bottom) that they had turned into a candle holder. The reason she had belted him was because her water had just burst and she refused to let him touch her or come anywhere near her. Her water had burst while she had been doing housework in her sweater, cutoffs, underclothes, and very, _very_ dirty bare feet. She had not bathed or washed her hair for the past seven days, and she was literally beginning to stink, since she had been wearing these same clothes for the past three days.

"Dawn…we have t' get yuh to the hospital. You'h havin' our babies…," said Hardy in a calm, nice voice.

"I'll have them right HERE on the damn FLOOR, Jeff! BY MYSELF! And don't you DARE look at me!"

"Dawn, you'h having twins. This is a bit of a high risk situation. Yoah a nurse! You know what havin' kids is like…hell, you helped Nova through her labor…"

"I'm not a frigging perfect grit your teeth lady samurai heroine like her who _wanted _to be knocked up! I am someone who does not even want kids! **I WISH THESE KIDS WOULD JUST DIE!"** she screamed. "And I do NOT want to go to the Hospital! I will have them here on the floor and make a mess that YOU will have to fucking clean up like you fucking have to clean up like every fucking time I throw up because YOU get me knocked up, you fighter-jock vengeful piece of CRAP!" Then, Dawn threw a vase at him…a vase that nearly brained him.

"I'll be back in a minute," he said, kneeling down and trying to kiss her while she tried to kick him.

He went into their bathroom and opened their medicine cabinet and looked through it, looking for the minor sedative that Doctor Sane had prescribed for her a few weeks ago. He found nothing on the shelf where the prescriptions were. Then, he remembered a note someone had put in his wallet that day. He opened his wallet and pulled out a handwritten note written on a doctor's prescription pad page that Hardy opened. The note read:

**CMDR SAKEZO SANE, MD, DVM**

**License number #EDF3242120**

**Prescribe as follows (R/X)**

**04/22/2208**

**Jeff:**

**Just a quick reminder…**

**Remember the way Dawn was going off the other day? **

**Because she was making suicidal gestures, **

**I had to take her controlled meds over to our place.**

**If you need them, go look in our medicine cabinet.**

**Best wishes**

**Nova….**

**(RN, Licensed Nurse-Practitioner, Cert Midwife)**

**PS, for God's sake, do NOT let her see this note!**

**PPS: If she tries to hurt herself, CALL FOR HELP!**

_She's goin bonkers…_thought Jeff as he heard Dawn howling like an animal and then snarling like a rabid grizzly bear. _Ah don't think ah need sedatives. I think I need a friggin' dart gun!_

Jeff stepped out, found a phone, and called Derek Wildstar at home. He picked up after two rings. "Yeah?" Derek said.

"Me, Wildstah! Guess what?" said Hardy. "The kids are comin'…and we need those sedatives…the mild ones…that Nova took back to your place the other day."

"Why?" Derek said.

"She is _freaking out!_ "

Derek grinned. "Did she break your nose, yet? Nova still owes me three hundred credits for the plastic surgeon who fixed me up after Alex and Ariel were born after she slugged me. I don't bug her about it much…"

"Wildstah, this ain't _funny!_" snapped Hardy. "She wants to have the kids on the floor and she wants them to die! She's acting psycho," whispered Jeff in a low voice.

"Well, that's an upsetting development," said Derek. "At least Nova wasn't raving about having the twins on the First Bridge in front of the crew. Let me get over there and help…"

"With the pills?"

Derek nodded at his end on the phone. "Yeah. And I'm probably going to have to pick her up and carry her into the car for you."

"More like drag her into the car," said Hardy. "Good luck, sir."

**TEN MINUTES LATER….**

"**I DO NOT WANT ANY FUCKING PILLS!" **Dawn screamed at the top of her lungs, loud enough to be heard throughout the whole complex. "I want you to see it _all_!" she screamed at Jeff.

Hardy was rubbing his nose with a rag. It was not broken, but it _was_ bleeding. Likewise, the mighty Commodore Derek Wildstar had a black eye now.

The proximate cause, Dawn, was on the floor screaming like a banshee. Derek was considering getting Nova's spare Louisville Slugger to knock her out, but he did not communicate this to Hardy.

Finally, the two pilots just looked at each other, nodded, and they went in after the target together. Derek got Dawn's wrists, while Jeff got her knees.

Dawn screamed and kicked and spat like a cat with rabies as the two men struggled to pick her up. Now, neither Derek nor Jeff were weak by any means. Derek had easily carried Nova around in his arms for close to an hour once, and Jeff had carried Dawn around both in his arms and on his shoulders one day at the beach early in the marriage before she had been pregnant.

Neither had ever picked her up as she fought, screamed and cursed like a sailor at them, using words that Derek observed Nova never used, and some creative obscenities he had never heard before. As Dawn raved, she compared poor Jefferson Hardy to Deke Wakefield, Elvis Presley, Lance Stovall, Adolf Hitler, and Godzilla for getting her pregnant. She screamed about that she would much rather go through a wood chipper than have these children, and then she got loose and attacked Wildstar.

Derek was the nearest target of opportunity for the ranting, psychotic woman as she rushed him and knocked him to the ground. "HEY!" he yelled, deflecting her punches with his upraised hands and grabbing her legs with his to hold her down. "Hardy, forgive me, but she is a grade-A psychotic Ms. Screaming Meemie right now! I don't like hitting women, and you know how I felt that one time I had to hit Nova when she was possessed by Ekogaru, but I'm gonna have to cold-cock her!" he said as he made a fist.

Hardy was about to reluctantly agree when an ambulance roared into the driveway and almost bowled him over. A moment later, Lynn Westland came running up from one direction while three paramedics showed up from the other direction, two with a stretcher and one with a needle hidden behind his back.

"Ma'am!" said the large African-American paramedic as he knelt down in front of her. "Can you tell me your name?" he demanded.

"Elizabeth Taylor!" screamed Dawn at the top of her lungs. "And he's _Desslok_!" she ranted at Hardy. "And he's fucking Prince Zordar!" she said as she pointed at Derek.

"She thinks I'm green; that's a new one," said Derek as Lynn grabbed his arm. She said, "Commodore, why didn't you call the ambulance?"

"We thought we could get her to the hospital without this much trouble," said Derek.

"Either you two are really dumb or really naïve," snapped Lynn. "Wildstar, what did your wife act like when she was in labor?"

"Well, she tried to strangle me by my ascot and punched me in the nose once, but, otherwise, Nova was like a cool, rational librarian in labor when compared with Dawn. I hate to say it, Mrs. Westland, but right now, Dawn is acting…psychotic…"

"Tell me about it," sighed Lynn. "She had a bad stretch like this when she was at Pan-Am University years ago and almost flunked out. Her and that sorority," she sighed.

As Dawn screamed and fought the paramedic who was putting a needle in her to temporarily knock her out, Lynn pulled out a comm device and said, "I know Nova's over at Central right now with Sasha and Deke. You have a private line to call her on?"

Derek nodded, "I definitely do."

"Call her and let her know that you need another labor suite ready and some backup," said Lynn.

As Hardy got into the ambulance behind a now-woozy Dawn, Derek called up Nova and explained the situation. Things were actually fairly quiet in Sasha's labor suite at the moment…Nova was having a sandwich and some chocolate milk when Derek called her.

Nova nodded at Derek's commands (after all, they were a long well-oiled team in both the personal and miltary sense), and then, whispering a lament to herself about her half-eaten corned beef on rye, Nova got up and talked urgently to Doctor Sane. A moment later, they had a team readying the delivery suite across the hall from Sasha's for Dawn's arrival.

**VI. SASHA AND DAWN'S STRANGE MEETING OF THE MINDS**

**Earth**

**San Diego Central Hospital**

**Maternity Unit**

**Friday, April 28, 2208**

**1421 Hours Local Time**

Commodore Wildstar had arrived right behind Hardy and the ambulance, driving his Mustang with Jonathan riding shotgun and Alex and Ariel in the back in case they needed their mother at some point; they had plenty of baby food, but the bottled milk Nova had pumped the previous day was low at best, and they didn't have a lot of formula because Nova was usually readily available with her reduced work schedule since she was actually still technically on parental leave even though she got in to work as much as possible with her schedule and had been called up for the shakedown cruise a few weeks ago.

With Jonathan and the kids ensconsced in a spare empty hospital room (in fact, the same room that they had first been in with their mother around their birth in September), Derek had a few minutes with Nova in that self-same room as they talked.

"So, what's the situation like?" Derek asked while Nova carried a bundle of cloth and threw it down on the dresser. Then, she said, "Sasha is fine…her contractions are coming maybe just a little under every two minutes now, Derek. We think she'll be done before the afternoon ends. Dawn, on the other hand," Nova said, "Is semi-conscious, in restraints, and we got her cleaned up and stripped down to a maternity hospital gown at last. She fought all five of us like heck, even on that drug, " Nova said as she shook her head.

"_Five_?" said Derek.

Nova nodded. "Myself, Doctor Sane, Doctor Kei Stuart, Miss Smythe, and IQ-9," Nova said in wonder. "Even Tinwit couldn't quite hold her down. We had to give her another mild shot," Nova said as she heard a noise behind her. She turned her head and saw IQ-9 lifting up the hem of her labcoat to look at her butt, which was half-naked in her floral swimsuit.

"Would you _quit _that, IQ?" Nova snapped as she whipped her head around to glare at the robot. For half a moment, she was wishing she _had _brought her Louisville Slugger baseball bat with her.

"Mr. Marrable is right…you _do_ have a nice butt," IQ said as his lights flashed. "I'm analyzing it because I am making up a computer model of you in my central processors…"

"Good…_keep _her in there!" Nova said as she grabbed her labcoat out of his hands and slapped his dome. His dome spun around and he said, "You are making me tilt like an ancient pinball machine, Nova."

"Fine. But I will _not_ go back to you for replays," Nova retorted. "I…"

Then, they heard a baby crying. "_Ariel!_" Nova cried. At that, IQ-9 took off when he saw another nurse in a short skirt going by through the slightly open door. The nurse was running from him and screaming a moment later.

Nova danced around and picked up her daughter. "Honey, what's the matter? Hmm?"

"FIRSTY!" cried Ariel through her sobs and whimpers. Ariel had on only a little pink top and her diaper and she looked precious.

"You'll be better soon," Nova cooed. "Mommy will make you better…yes she will," Nova said as she partly pulled her labcoat off. "Derek, could you undo the halter on my swimsuit?" Nova asked.

Derek did so, and while holding Ariel, Nova simply gave her swimsuit a good tug down. A moment later, both breasts came out, and Ariel's lips were latched on hungrily to the first nipple that came exposed as Nova stood there, soothing her tiny daughter, indifferent for the moment to the fact that she was bare down to just near her navel. Nova was a little unsure what to do until her swimsuit slipped a little more and the upper regions of her womanhood began to come out. So, Nova just pulled down her swimsuit and then partly clothed her nakedness by closing up her lab coat and buttoning up about three buttons so at least the lower part of her body was covered. "How much bottled stuff do you have, Derek?"

"Not much…"

"The pump's in my bag," Nova sighed. "You know what to do by now, right?" Nova said as she sat on the bed and got out of her clothes for a bit. Derek nodded as he assisted in this chore as he put the pump receiving funnel tenderly against Nova's other bare breast. He was learning many small procedures like that, complete to having had to give Nova a small shot in her bottom some years ago when a bee stung her there and the spot swelled up.

Derek smiled at his young wife, who smiled back while he rubbed her shoulders. She looked at him and said, "Could you kneel on the bed with me and massage that kink out of my back?"

Derek nodded and got on the bed with Nova, who sighed pleasantly as she received a nice massage from her husband. A few minutes later, after Nova was done with Ariel, she sat up (clad in only her sandals) and went over to the bundle on the bureau; she had brought along undergarments and a fresh nurse's tunic, which she changed into after combing her hair while Derek played with Ariel. After throwing on her lab coat, Nova's comm device rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket. "Hello?" she said.

"This is Doctor Sane. Is your lunch break over, Nova?"

"It is," she said.

"Sasha is at seven point five centimeters now…we need you…and Dawn is beginning to wake up!"

"I'll be there," Nova sighed. She kissed Ariel and shook her head. "Derek…yeah…it never rains in Southern California…"

"It bloody pours…" he said.

**FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER….**

Finally, for Sasha, the big moment was here.

Sweating and still very naked, she lay on her side, trying to control the pain as much as possible as she positively began to _burn_ down there. "It hurts!" she cried, "Oh….Goddess…it hurts SO MUCH! Help me, Deeekeeeeee!" she screamed.

Deke did so, pushing up one of Sasha's legs as she began to strain and push, needing very little encouragement to do so.

Not having time to get her bare feet up into the stirrups, Nova let her push a foot against her labcoat-clad stomach as the young nurse-practitioner kicked off her sandals and stood barefoot on the cool floor, digging in with her toes to make herself as stiff as possible for Sasha to push against, along with Deke, as she and Doctor Sane manipulated their hands and the receiving towel into place under Sasha's straining birth area. "Oil her again," Nova said to Deke.

Deke did so, putting his gloved hand into the small dish of olive oil that sat on the tray with the instruments. Sasha felt his hands on her, and she wept with joy for a moment…because what he was doing felt wonderful.

"She's more than fully dilated," said Doctor Sane.

"Go, baby, go," whispered Deke as Sasha whimpered, sobbed, and then pushed as hard as she could…with all of her might….

"She's crowning!" Doctor Sane said eagerly.

"Oh, my God, she's got brown hair…how cute…" Nova said.

Deke watched, with tears in his eyes, as Sasha finished pushing….and his tiny baby daughter came out of her into the world at last, falling messily out into Nova and Doctor Sane's waiting gloved hands.

"Time?" demanded Sane.

"Fifteen-Eleven Hours, 28 April, 2208," Nova called out. "Oh, my God, Sasha..she's _beautiful_!"

Sasha then twisted around, heedless of the mess she was making, as she watched Doctor Sane, Nova, and Deke giving her baby daughter her first bath as she suddenly cried out her first ever cry.

Sasha cried happily as she watched Deke and Dr. Sane cutting and clamping Star's little cord…and then, she smiled as Deke looked at their wet, newborn, naked daughter and said, "She's hungry, Princess…."

"What do you two want to name her?" Nova asked.

Deke and Sasha talked in quick whispers, and then, Deke said, "Star Kathleen Wakefield. Star after her mother; Kathleen after my dead baby sister."

"Beautiful name," Nova said as she made some notes while helping Doctor Sane wash the baby while Sane tended to Sasha. "The placenta should be coming soon," said Sane. "I'd let her feed as soon as possible…that'll help your uterus contract…"

Sasha smiled and she let Deke lay her on her stomach with some help from Nova. Then, after Nova helped show her how to latch the baby onto her nipple, Sasha watched Star taking her nude breast and her first meal after she finished the business of birth. The bond between mother and baby was immediately formed as Star looked with love into her mother's brown eyes, making Sasha's heart just melt as she felt the weaker Iscandarian part of the baby's consciousness linking with her own, forming bonds, as she looked around, with her mother, with her father (as he let her play with his finger and kicked a little as he played with her toes), and with Nova (as her Great-Aunt toweled her hair dry and put her hospital ID bracelet on her, with her name **STAR KATHLEEN WAKEFIELD** and time of birth written in it in Nova's neat, feminine block letters).

Finally, everything was done, and Deke sat on the bed with Sasha, stroking her hair, and occassionally kissing her nose and his new daughter's nose as the little family bonded. Nova assisted Doctor Sane in cleaning up, and then, she turned to them and said, "Sasha, we'll have a room ready for you in a while. Would you like a crib in there for Star?"

"Absolutely," she said.

Nova got on the phone and murmured a few commands to the lower-ranking nurse who picked up. Then, she said, "Doctor Sane and I have to go…we have other patients today. Like the one across the hall…."

"Who?" said Deke.

Sasha turned to him, looked him in the eyes and said, "_Dawn's_ here, too. With Jeff."

"How do you know that?" Nova asked.

"Remember, Auntie? I can sense things? I can sense Dawn's disquiet, anger, rage, fear, and jealousy from here. I'm trying to protect Star from all of those emotions, because she can pick them up, too. But you have a very angry woman in there…"

"Yeah…you're telling us," said Nova. "She's being absolutely…uh…"

"A bitch?" Sasha said.

Nova nodded and said, "I have to go. I'll check on you guys later…C'mon, Doctor."

Sane grunted, picked up a bottle of sake, and took a long drink. "I'll _need_ to be drunk for this one," Deke heard him mumble as he left with his bottle in his hand.

And, at that, Nova slipped off to the other room.

The time when she left was sixteen-oh-five hours.

**FOUR HOURS LATER….(2005 Hours- 8:05 PM)**

Dawn was pushing, even though they were telling her not to push.

She was only at eight centimeters, and she was awake, conscious, but held down with restraints, and this sweaty woman in a dirty hospital gown was cursiong, and yelling as she said, "I WANT THIS OVER WITH! I WANT A C-SECTION!"

"Then why are you pushing?" demanded Doctor Sane as Jeff Hardy stood there trying to hold her hand…even though she bit at her husband once.

"We are…putting a drug in your IV…to help with those…contractions…" said Natalie Fisher as Nova nodded. Natalie now had a black eye. Dawn had given it to her two hours ago when they had had her out of restraints for a bit, and when she had thrown Nova across the room with the unnatural strength of a person in a psychotic state.. Luckily, Nova had just tumbled up and over a large beanbag chair and she didn't break anything when she smacked against the wall. It had taken every ounce of Commander Wildstar's patience and professionalism to keep from getting up and smacking _Dawn _around a few times. Dawn had also thrown a jar or two at Vanessa Smythe, who was beginning to wonder if she had gotten into the right line of work in deciding to become a nurse. Finally, they had been forced to call IQ-9 and two large male orderlies to get Dawn under control while Doctor Sane and Nova gave her another shot, since she had pulled her own IV out again.

Then, after Dawn was injected through the IV, the contractions came on…faster and faster.

Dawn struggled furiously, crying and screaming as she pulled away from Hardy's hand and kicked back on her bare feet, crying in agony as she struggled, and her hospital gown came undone, button by button until Natalie Fisher just popped it open all the way, leaving her to finish her crying, painful labor in a state just barely removed from nakedness.

"Please! Please! Make it stop!" cried Dawn.

"No…we can't stop now," Nova said as she washed Dawn's face clean with a sponge. "Dawn..we just have to keep on going until the babies emerge…."

"What did you want to name them, again?" Jeff asked.

"The boy, you said we'd name David," sobbed Dawn. "I'm naming the girl Sara, after my grandmother. I've changed my mind! I want them to be born!" she screamed as Doctor Sane checked her. "I want this to be over with!"

"Dawn…you're at ten centimeters now," said Doctor Sane. "Nova, Natalie, help me push her back…now, Nova, get her to…"

Nova nodded and pushed Dawn back gently. "Dawn! Breathe! And _PUSH_!"

Dawn began to breathe, gasp, and she pushed.

Nova remembered Dawn and Sasha getting her to push, and remembered the agony of what finishing this was like. She looked right at Dawn, being the only other woman there who had borne children herself, and she began to breathe just as she had when she had been birthing her son Alex. Soon, Dawn became a little more clear-headed at last and she pushed as Nova and Doctor Sane had directed.

Dawn felt a sudden burn as if she was on fire, and, suddenly, they saw something blond apprearing at the birth area.

Doctor Sane had Jefferson Hardy stand back, and Dawn's toes curled and tensed and untensed as she was covered with sweat. "I'm so hot!" she cried. "And I'm getting tangled up in this!" she sobbed as her hospital gown cut into her arms.

Nova and Vanessa removed the restraints that had held Dawn's wrists earlier in her psychotic state, and then Vanessa and Natalie simply tore the hospital gown from her, leaving her completely naked as Nova washed her body for relief and professionally oiled the birth area down.

Dawn cried and screamed, but she pushed down hard….and, a moment later, a litle head emerged from her, followed by the rest of her little son as Nova urged her into a more comfortable position and then readied a blanket to catch the little baby boy on. A moment later, Dawn looked down as her little son came from her and screamed out his first wailing cries as Nova and Vanessa bathed him while Doctor Sane cut the cord.

Then, he was laid on Dawn's stomach, where he found his mother's breast, and then, almost against her will, Dawn let him latch onto her nipple and suck. To Dawn's surprise, it felt pleasant and it relaxed her.

"Now, the little girl is getting into position," said Doctor Sane as he patted Dawn's stomach. "I…"

"Something doesn't look right," Nova said as she looked at Dawn's birth area. She knew from previous ultrasounds that Sara would have a full head of hair, but….there was no hair…

Nova ran an ultrasound probe over Dawn's bare stomach, and then, she said, "Doctor Sane…oh…my…God…look at this!"

Sane looked at a screen, and then looked at the display attached to the wireless fetal sensor on Dawn's naked stomach. Then, he said, "The baby is presenting breech and I can't turn her over unaided! The cord is too short! The baby's heart rate is dropping fast! Miss Smythe, get the husband out of here _now!_ Nova, ready the forceps and get that baby off of her stomach! Miss Fisher, call for back up, Code Lavender, STAT! Get them to bring a C-kit!"

A moment later, Hardy reached for Dawn, but then he felt Vanessa and IQ-9 pushing him away from her and her son.

"What's…?" he said.

Dawn screamed in agony as Nova took lttle David away from her while other nurses ran in there. At Doctor Sane's orders, an anonymous nurse he did not know pushed Hardy out of the room as other nurses ran in with equipment…

The last thing Dawn knew or or saw was Nova putting a mask on her face as she lay there in horrible pain…and saying, "Breathe….just breathe…and…relax…"

Dawn sobbed and did so, and her world quickly went dark as the anesthesia took effect and she passed into sleep as she heard instruments clanging against each other and heard Doctor Sane yelling out various commands….

**ONE HOUR LATER….**

Jefferson Hardy sat outside in a waiting area with a portable comm device in his hand as he spoke to his father Nathaniel on the phone. His parents were still alive, and they lived on their plantation in Georgia.

"They haven't told me anythin' yet!" he said. "Ah got to see mah son, and then they said somethin' about his sister presentin' breech birth…then somethin' about her heart rate droppin…."

Commodore Wildstar came out a moment later and sat beside Hardy. Jeff looked at him and demanded, "Did they tell yuh anythin' yet? Dad…I gotta go…talk to you and Mom later…" Jeff then hung up the phone as he looked expectantly at Derek.

"No," said Derek. "I heard about what happened from another one of the nurses, but Nova and Doctor Sane are still in there with her. I was just with Sasha, Deke, and Star. No one knows anything yet…"

"Why are they keepin' me in the dahk about my own wife, son, and daughter?" demanded Hardy as a tear ran down his cheek.

Then, a door slammed open, and Nova came out.

She had a stunned expression on her face, and her nurse's tunic was covered with blood.

Hardy got up and grabbed Nova by her bloody dress as Derek yelled, "Leave her alone!" He shook Nova and said, "Please! What happened in theh?"

"I…I can't tell you….I'm not allowed to…" she suddenly sobbed. "Please let me go, Hardy! The doctor will be out in a minute to tell you what…what happened….oh, my God..I…"

Hardy let Nova go, and she ran to Derek's arms and just began to cry as he held her.

Then Doctor Sane came out, looking utterly exhausted.

Hardy turned on him and yelled, "Doctor Sane? What happened?"

Sane looked at him and sighed. Then, he said to Derek, "Commodore…please get Nova out of here, I need some privacy with Mister Hardy! She's relieved of duty for the rest of the night….even though she did all she could for us, she's been through enough today…please take her back into that room where you have your kids and help her clean up and get into fresh clothes…."

Derek escorted his sobbing, exhausted wife out of there as Doctor Sane looked at Hardy. Then, he sighed and said. "Your son, David, is alive and he's well. He's sleeping now, poor little dear. I'm sorry we had to pull him away from his mother, but we had no choice."

"Ah guessed as much. What happened to Dawn?"

Sane took a deep breath. "We tried to turn Sara for a more satisfactory delivery. As we were doing so, we begn to have a placental abruption….we tried to repair it through laproscopic surgery and then began to prep for a C-Section when they both began to bleed heavily…both Dawn…and the baby. There was a severe blood loss. Dawn had to be given several units to save her life…and she's under sedation right now to allow her to rest and heal. Sara…"

Hardy sat in silence as Doctor Sane wiped his eyes and said, "When we finally got Sara out of her through an emergency C-Section, she didn't cry, and she barely kicked. There was barely a heartbeat. We got her to breathe a little, and we were setting her up for a very small transfusion when we lost her heartbeat. Nova and I did all that we could for her….but she only lived for twelve minutes outside of her mother. We finally gave up on efforts to revive her six minutes ago…all brain activity in your daughter had just ceased. I'm so sorry, Jefferson…your daughter didn't survive. We'll have her cleaned up soon so you can view the body…"

Hardy nodded. Then, he put his face in his hands, and he just began to cry.

He did not stop crying for the next five hours….

**THREE DAYS LATER…. **

Dawn had no idea where she was, or even who she was…

All that she knew as she came around was…pain…

The pain began around her inner thighs, and it burned in the center of her beneath her hospital gown and everything else, and it went inside her to her lower abdomen, which ached horribly as it almost felt as if something were missing.

"Where am I?" she murmured. "Where's the…babies….? Where's David? Where's…Sara?"

Dawn opened her eyes, and she saw a very, very sad looking Jeff standing over the bed in a black suit jacket, white shirt, black tie. He was holding a tiny bundle in a blue blanket.

"Jeff?"

"Dawn," he said in a choked-up voice. "You didn't really get to meet him for very long on…the night of the twenty-eighth, but..here's our son…David. He's a bit small, but…isn't he beautiful?"

"What day is this?" said Dawn woozily.

"May the first," said Hardy. Jeff brought the bundle closer, and Dawn stroked the little face. He had blond hair, and he had the most adorable smile. "He's..he's beautiful.." whispered Dawn. "How is he eating?"

"Mostly from a bottle for now, even though both Sasha and I helped a little by letting him nurse against us when we could manage it," said Nova softly at the other side of the bed. Dawn turned her head, and she wondered why Nova was standing there in a sleeveless black minidress, and black stockings. Dawn couldn't tell if she was imagining things, but Nova looked very pale, and it looked like there were the ghosts of dark circles under her eyes. "Are you sick?" Dawn whispered.

Nova shook her head. "Just very tired, that's all. We all had to work very hard on you. I…I worked a double shift just helping Doctor Sane keep you alive later that night even though they tried to make me go home…I…"

"Where's my daughter?" Dawn whispered.

"We have…pictures we can show you later on," Nova said as she wiped her eyes. "You're going to be here a few days, unfortunately, so….After we got her cleaned up and presentable…she looked….looks like a sleeping little angel," Nova said as her voice hitched and her lip trembled.

"What…happened? Why isn't she here? Where's my baby?" Dawn said.

Nova sat down. Dawn saw that she looked very formal; she had on black open-toed pumps with her stockings and little black mesh gloves. Nova took a deep breath and said, "Dawn…you had some major difficulty in labor after David was born. Sara presented as a breech birth. We tried to deliver naturally, and then with forceps…after we knocked you out….we were about to give up and were going C-section after a few minutes when the placenta..tore….and Sara…began to spasm inside you. She was losing oxygen and blood fast….we got her out of you….but, then, we had to go to work to repair the placenta and to try to repair damage to your uterus. I alternated between assisting Doctor Sane and trying to work with Doctor Stuart to save Sara's life. We just about saved you. We…after a bit of time…we couldn't…save…Sara…..she's…gone," Nova sobbed. "Jeff and I are dressed up like this because we're meeting Derek and Deke at the viewing…I….I'm so sorry!" Nova said. "And…."

"My daughter's dead?" said Dawn.

Nova nodded and then she and Jeff just hugged her as she began to cry.

She didn't stop crying for the next two hours. Dawn was comforted, but they let her cry it out as she mourned her daughter…and cursed a very bitter Fate.

**TO BE CONTINUED….. **


	11. Chapter 11

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA**

**A Postscript to _THE NEW COMET_- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

* * *

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

_Note: This Chapter Contains some content that may prove to be upsetting for somejust wished to give a warning_

_Elements of Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman that appear in this chapter are 2010 by Sandy Frank and Tatsunoko Productions. Note to Gatch/BoTP Fans: it will be evident in this chapter I have taken some liberties with some of the Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets villains and universe in having two villains who never met in the series not only meeting but working together. Consider this one of the oddities of this universe, which is an alternate universe of both the Star Blazers/Yamato universe and the Gatchaman/Battle universe._

**I. MOURNING DOVES**

**Earth**

**San Diego**** Megalopolis**

**Crestview Funeral Home**

**Monday May 2, 2208**

**1230 Hours Local Time**

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* * *

**

Jefferson Hardy sat in shock near the small dais that held the even tinier white casket that held the body of his baby daughter Sara.

Sara Hardy, as the reader will recall, had a very short and sad life outside of her mother. She had died on her birthday…April 28th, 2208.

Her brother, David Hardy, was alive and well, but was still at the hospital, spending part of the time with his shell-shocked, depressed, pain-filled mother Dawn, and part of his time in the nursery there, where, with his curious, winning personality, he had become a star in the maternity ward, where he mostly subsisted on formula, taking his shell-shocked mother's breast a little, and also getting some natural milk from both Nova and Sasha, who were healthy mothers with plenty to spare. As a result, David sometimes got to look at little Star and played with her when both babies were in Sasha's lap or at her breast, and he also got to know Alex and Ariel Wildstar quite well under similar circumstances in Nova's lap.

But, we return now to Sara, who lay quiet and still in her open casket, clad in white like a tiny angel, with a white cover drawn up to her little hands, which clapsed a tiny pink teddy bear she would never be able to see.

Hardy sat stroking his baby girl's hair. It was like David's hair; blond, light…airy. Jeff could not escape the image of this little girl running free in a sundress with her hair floating behind her in the breeze…

"I'll nevuh see you like that," he whispered out loud…"Nevah…"

"You'll never see her like what?" whispered Deke as he came up in his peacoat and Black Tiger uniform and hugged Hardy. Jeff, clad in a black suit, hugged back.

"I'll never see her runnin' down the beach with a kite…never see her at a slumber party…never see her mom face-painting her or body-painting her…" he said as he bowed his head and shook it. "Unless angels do those things in the next world with kids who died too soon…"

"It makes me think of Kathi," said Deke as he hugged him hard. "My baby sister…who died in the bombings," Deke explained as Nova quietly stole up, looking solemn and funereal in a black suit, white blouse with black tie, black hose, and sandals. "I told you about Kathi, Nova….she…"

"I know," Nova said as she patted Deke on the shoulder, like she and Sasha did whenever he began to talk about Kathi. Nova looked at Jeff and said, "If it's any consolation, Jeff, my family went through this, too…even though I just barely remember it…"

"You lost a sister?" Hardy said in shock.

Nova nodded. "My mother had another little girl when I was five by the name of Samantha. She lived a little longer; maybe three days. Dad snuck me into the hospital where I played with her a little before she really got sick…she even looked like me. I barely remember her funeral. I blamed myself for a couple of months for giving her cooties. She was buried in Boulder…until the planet bombs destroyed the cemetery. Maybe that's why my mother got so protective of me…I don't know…"

In the meantime, Commodore Wildstar sat nearby with Jonathan, who had on a black suit. Nova's mother was home with Lynn Westland, watching the babies and preparing a lunch for after the close of the funeral. Derek said, "Have you ever seen anything so sad in your life, Jon?"

Jonathan nodded. "Too much, Dad. Too damn much. I heard even worse stories through Michelle. She was on R'Khelle'va for a while. You know what was and is _there_, right?"

Derek nodded. "The chief temples of Ekogaru's death cult?"

Jonathan again nodded. "One of her owners…you know she was a slave…one of her owners decided he was going to work her to death in the velshalite mines there…"

"What's velshalite?" Derek asked.

"A mineral like our Titanite. It is found in trace quantities in coal on R'Khelle'va, and the R'Khells use it in the energy transmission units of their space warships. Anyway, when Michelle was younger…."

Then, a moment later, Michelle herself came up, and said, "Jonathan, please stop. If anyone tells your Dad that story, let it be me…"

"I'm sorry," Jonathan said as he hugged his sister, who was clad in a black outfit similar to Nova's. Behind her stood Katrina, who was dressed the same way. Katrina turned to Derek and whispered, "Where is the poor child lying?"

"Over there, Katrina," said Derek as he and Nova noticed that Foxy was just standing there in shock, so he and Nova guided Katrina up to look at the poor little baby lying there dead in her casket.

Katrina's eyes filled with tears as she said, "How did the poor dear die?"

"Complications from the birth," said Nova. "We tried to save her, but…"

Katrina wiped away tears and gritted her teeth as she heard some giggly woman in the background walking along with General Stone and saying, "I heard it's because she didn't get to the hospital _fast enough_, sir!"

"What's this girl like?" General Stone was overheard to ask the bleached blond in a bright red minidress and matching fire-engine red open-toed high heels sans stockings as the minidress girl said, "She's some kind of detachee' from the World Health Organization to the EDF, sir! They all say she's craaaaazzzeee….and that's why she's not here, she…"

Nova ground her teeth and looked at Katrina. She said, "Let's go shut blondie up."

"You have my full support and sympathy, dahlink!" Katrina said. "Don't worry, Jefferson. We'll shut her up," said Katrina as she looked at Hardy.

"Thanks," said Jeff with a weak smile.

Nova and Katrina came up to the giggling girl and Nova spoke first. "Miss, are you _aware_ we are starting a funeral in a few minutes?"

"You don't look good in black, either of you!" said the Giggly Girl in Red Vinyl Mini as General Stone smiled at her. She looked down at their feet and said, "Didn't either of you girls learn that you just _don't_ wear stockings with sandals?"

"I believe funerals are an exception," Nova said as Katrina then looked at her and the alien woman then said, "You are disrespecting the spirit of that poor baby girl by acting _like zis!_ We are supposed to be here to comfort Jefferson and his squadron mates!"

"Do you two have some kind of issue on how Jade should be acting?" barked General Stone. "This Ensign, Jade Foster, is my new personal secretary, Commander Wildstar," he said as he stared hard at Nova. "She gets special privileges because of that!"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Nova asked.

Stone said, "Yes, although half of what comes out of your mouth is crap, Wildstar!" Nova could smell Scotch on Stone's breath, and she was sure that explained a good part of it, the other part of it being that he was just an….asshole…

"Sir, I don't care if she is the Lady Madonna herself…there are ways you act at a funeral, and ways you don't act? Jade here is a good example of how _not _to dress at a funeral!"

"And why are you dressed like an old lady, Missus Nova Loudmouth, ma'am?" barked Jade. "Oh, yeah, all the girls in Headquarters know all about you," cooed Foster as Stone protectively stroked her bare shoulders in her minidress.

Nova said, "Katrina and I are in black out of respect for little Sara, and also because we're going to be among her pallbearers. At her mother's request…" Indeed, at Dawn's request, all four of the pallbearers, namely, Nova, Sasha, Katrina, and Natalie Fisher were all women and friends of the family (even though Dawn did not get along particularly well with either Sasha or Katrina at the moment). The fact that all four of the women were fairly slender wasn't a major issue. The deceased and her tiny casket weren't very heavy.

Soon, the funeral director came out and called for silence. The funeral had begun.

* * *

**HALF AN HOUR LATER….**

A very small honor guard was formed by some of the men (namely, Deke, Derek, Jere "Brew" Marrable, and Clive Hartcliffe, who had recently joined the Black Tigers) as little Sara was slowly carried to the hearse by Nova, Sasha, Katrina, and Natalie. Hardy walked behind the casket, feeling deeply depressed as a soft rain began to fall and a funereal atmosphere filled the air.

When Sasha was finished with her pallbearer duties, she went to Deke's side, smiled at him, and they kissed. Nova smiled at them, thinking they had never looked happier together.

Then, they got into their car, and Nova said a few prayers for Jeff and baby Sara as the procession went to the cemetery.

When they were there, they carried the tiny casket to the grave, where they laid it on the device that held it over the open grave as a Baptist minister led them all in the Lord's Prayer and then began to preach from the Gospel of John, the theme being, "I am the Resurrection and the Life…"

To Hardy, the minister's words about the next life, resurrection, the baby being with the angels in Heaven, and the fact that she was now an adopted child of their dead comrades did not comfort him very much.

Finally, they were done about twenty minutes later. Each person laid a white rose on the little casket, and then they stood in silence as the funeral director released a switch on the machine that held it above the grave and the casket very slowly descended down into the grave. Then, the pastor threw some dirt on it, saying, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Lord, we lie this child, this lost Lamb of Thine, here in the Earth in hopes of the soon-coming and glorious Day of Resurrection, where we shall meet again, our Savior. For it is in Thy Name we pray, Amen."

Then, everyone hugged Hardy as they began to go back to their cars.

Nova gave one last dirty look to Jade, who was giggling again as she got into General Stone's limo. Then, Stone and his Bimbo of the Month took off.

* * *

A while later, at the Westlands' apartment, the group gathered to sit about and have a lunch made by Mrs. Westland and Mrs. Forrester while Hardy stepped into the other room to call Dawn at the hospital.

He caught Dawn in the middle of changing David's diaper (with the help of Vanessa Smythe), and she sounded very tired. "Hi, Jeff….how did it go?"

"Sad….but, it's over with now," said Hardy. "Sara's in…her little resting place. We can go there when you're out of the hospital. How long do you think they'll be keepin' you there?"

"I don't know," said Dawn. "They were talking about letting me leave on the seventh…"

"Saturday," said Jeff. "What about nursing?"

"They're reducing the anti-depressants somewhat today," Dawn said. "They think I might be ready to have my milk checked on Wednesday and might be able to try then," Dawn said in a calm but somewhat flat voice. To Jeff, it was some improvement over how she had been raving on the twenty-eighth and then so sad she could barely talk over the last day or so. Dawn ran her fingers down little David's bare legs and smiled a ghost of a smile through her tears. "You should see David now, he's so cute…"

"If we switch to video and we switch phones…we can all see him," said Hardy. Jonathan just nodded. A friend of his named Shiro Kobayashi had just come over, and the two boys were sitting playing a video game on a portable computer Shiro had. The teenagers' interest in the proceedings currently seemed to be rather minimal.

"He doesn't have his diaper on yet," giggled Dawn.

"He's a baby…that won't matter much," said Hardy.

Dawn nodded. Jeff ran out into the living room and picked up the phone and switched on the video screen. Everyone saw Dawn (who was in a hospital gown and pink knitted scarf) and little David and went,

"awwwwww…" as they saw the little blond baby boy with his little kicking legs on Dawn's lap. He wore only his little white shirt, and his little legs, toes, and even his cute little bottom and boyhood looked adorable as his little legs flailed around. "Hi, everyone! Look, Mom! How does he look?" Hardy also observed that Dawn had dyed out her blond bangs and that she looked a little more normal, now, if tired.

"He's getting bigger," said Lynn as she smiled at Dawn and David. Dawn looked a bit happier….she was even making David "wave" at the group after Vanessa helped her remove his little shirt so he could be cleaned off as he lay naked on his mommy's lap. Sasha came up and made faces at David, and then Nova came up, gently pushing Saaha away to purse her lips and go "boo boo boo boo boo boo boo" at David. Then she crossed her eyes, which even made Dawn laugh a little for a moment until Katrina came up, dangling little Alex's toy Super Star at the baby on the screen (and not quite believing she was doing this) as she smiled for a moment and she got teary-eyed before running to Foxy to hide her face and her tears in his chest as they hugged. Derek then put his hands on Nova's shoulders and also joined in making faces at little David.

Finally, after Lynn talked to her daughter a bit more, Dawn said she was tired, thanked everyone, and hung up as they saw Vanessa helping her put a new diaper on David.

Lynn patted him on the arm and said, "This is sad. We buried one baby today but we are seeing the other one, all full of life….in the arms of my daughter. It took so much out of her to have them…"

Hardy wiped away some tears as he said, "Yeah….life goes on…I'm finally getting things ready for their homecoming in a few days. One thing that worries me about Dawn is that she was talking a little about high school again when she began getting better…"

Deke sighed. "She's on that kick again?"

"Yeah….she is," said Jeff with a sigh as he watched Nova picking up little Alex, who had on a little striped shirt and (sort of) had on his diaper. Alex had just learned how to undo his own diaper, and, as a result, with the utter lack of propriety of a baby beginning to go into toddlerhood, he was now also letting everyone see he was a boy. Nova was trying to figure out whether to put his diaper back on him or let him do without when he solved the dilemna himself by kicking his diaper off onto the floor. "_Alexander!_" Nova said, gently scolding him. Then, he began to squirm and pull at his shirt, going, "Itchy!"

"Are you hot?" Nova said. "Do you want to be nakee?" He smiled a big grin at that, and Nova then said to Mrs. Westland, "Lynn…apparently…Alexander wants to be stripped….do you mind?"

Lynn laughed and said, "Not at all. Teri and I had a hard time keeping his clothes on earlier when you were at the funeral. We dressed him partially because we weren't sure if you wanted to come home and find him like that…"

"Not at all," Nova said. "When it's a really hot day, they're barely even dressed most of the time at home…" Nova said as she got Alex out of his shirt and began to tickle her naked son's tummy.

Derek came up with Ariel (who was likewise stripping herself) and he said, "When it's a really hot day, Mommy is barely dressed at home, either…"

"Derek, they don't need to know that!" Nova said as she playfully slapped her husband on the wrist while thinking, _I can't stand these stockings any more…or this suit….Sure, we needed them for the funeral, but now, I want to get home and change…_

While she was holding little Alex, he kicked his legs, grinned at his mother….

….and before she could do anything about it, Alex was making everyone laugh as he went wee all over the place…mostly all over his mother's white blouse and her black skirt.

"Alex!" Nova cried as Derek laughed and said, "I think he's saying 'take me home?'"

Nova nodded hard, and she said, "I think he's saying something else, too," Nova said as he began to unbutton her blouse in front of everyone! She had a slip on beneath it, so to give him what he wanted, Nova would have to…strip herself. She thus grabbed a sandwich and gathered up Derek and beat a hasty exit for their townhouse next door as Katrina followed them, asking, "May I come over, Nova? I want to put my normal clothes back on! I hate zese damn stockings!"

"Sure," Nova said. "Come right over and follow us! Foxy, don't get into any trouble while she's gone!" Nova barked.

"I won't," he said while he tried to do some dumb magic trick with a deck of cards to amuse Jonathan, Shiro, Aurora, and David. "Now where did that card go?" he asked.

* * *

Once back in the apartment, Nova and Katrina got rid of their sandals at the door, and Nova took the additional step of reaching up under her skirt to get rid of her pantyhose while Derek unbuttoned her blouse and undid her ribbon tie. "Your things are in the spare bedroom, Katrina," Nova said as Derek had her sit down in her beanbag chair with Alex and he helped her out of her black jacket.

"I do want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing me what to wear to funeral observance, Nova," Katrina said. "Even if the black hose itched like crazy. Now I see why you don't like it much…"

"Now you know," Nova said as Derek began to unzip her skirt. "Well, go get comfortable, Katrina. We'll talk when you get back in here…Derek…run a bath for me for Alex? I have to clean him up."

Katrina went to change. Once in the spare bedroom, she stripped off all of the clothing Nova had bought her and pulled on her purple sundress over her own usual panties.

When she came back out in her sundress, running her hands through her hair, she found Derek kneeling beside Nova in the beanbag chair.

Derek had changed into a two-tone blue t-shirt and grey shorts and went barefoot in the warm apartment. On the other hand, Nova was now sitting there on a beach towel in the nude and fresh from the bath with her legs crossed and Alex resting in her arms as he nursed, naked and wrapped in a towel from the quick bath his mother had given him and herself. Both mother and child showed fresh evidence of their bath; little rivulets of water ran down Nova's face and chest between her breasts, and Alex's hair was still wet.

Katrina smiled at her and said, "Nova, you have far more dignity about you like that naked than that giggling airheaded fool of the General's did in her slutty dress at funeral. What was her name?"

"Jade," Nova sighed. "Another one of General Stone's mistresses. No one knows for sure, but her "battlefield commission" to Ensign last fall for helping Stone during the last battles with the _Eritz Gatlantis_ back on Earth seems sort of suspect. She was once on my office staff when I was the Commanding General's Aide some years back, and I found I had a hard time getting her to pass the tests to make Corporal, for heaven's sakes! She is one of those girls who is so dumb she probably has to go barefoot to do math because she has to have her fingers and toes showing to count to twenty!" Nova said as she wiggled her bare toes for a minute and chuckled. "That's a stereotypical dumb blond," Nova added. "Derek, see if Ariel's cranky?" Nova said as he held their daughter.

It turned out she was, so Derek brought her over to Nova and let her suck at her other breast for a moment. When Ariel sucked a little and then began to use her mother's breast as a play toy, Nova smiled and said, "No, dear…you're not hungry. Derek, see if she needs her diaper changed?"

"Right," Derek said as he began undressing his daughter on the floor. The room was soon filled with baby giggles because Derek, like Nova, liked to tickle Ariel as he undressed her. In one minute flat, Ariel was out of her clothes and getting baby powder put on her bottom by her father, who made Nova smile because he kissed her and made goofy faces at her as he powdered up her bottom, upper thighs, and diaper area. Ariel giggled. Then, she pulled up her little foot and began to bite her own toes. Derek smiled at her, figuring her diaper and jammies could wait until she was done playing.

"I take it that General Stone is not someone who respects women very much?" Katrina asked.

"Hell no," Nova sighed. "He hates young people, he hates the Star Force, and he dislikes me with a passion and the feeling is mutual. When I danced with him at my wedding, I could swear that he was looking down my dress at my cleavage. Later on, in April of 2202, once we arrived home on Earth to make our last stand in Ekogaru's first war with us, he came aboard the _Argo_ to help General Singleton inspect the ship, and I was made to do pushups in front of him with another officer from the ship…that was Eager…because our brass belt buckles were smeared. Luckily, Derek joined in with us. Stone also made me serve as his personal aide for a week in late April of 2200 when Commanding General Singleton was sick, and he pretty much turned me into his personal slave for over a week, and even crashed a private Cinco de Mayo party I was having with some of my girlfriends and friends from the _Argo_ after work. He's such a _jerk_!"

"Yeah, you wrote me about that time," Derek added. "Nova, didn't he make you wash his car once like his personal slave?"

"He did, Derek. Twice. I would _not_ wear a bikini for him, though! I told him I dress like that only for _you_, Derek. I washed his car in a one-piece swimsuit with gym shorts on over it. I actually reported him to General Singleton for harassment, but later I found out that Stone's buddies in the higher echelons of the government quashed it. Sorry, Katrina…he's such a…I don't have the words to describe that man!" Nova _did_ have the words to describe him, but most of them used four letters and various obscenities, so she didn't care to say them out loud.

Katrina found one of Derek's cameras lying nearby, so she picked it up and said, "Derek, Nova…mind if I take a picture of you two with the baby, or would you rather be dressed, Nova?"

Nova rolled up her eyes a little, and with a twinkle in them, she said, "Well, since the kids have come along, Derek _and_ my mother have gotten a lot of pictures of us, and I think I'm decent in maybe _half _of them? Derek and my mom both think it's _cute_ to see me photographed out of my clothes when I'm caring for the junior cadets here," Nova said as Derek handed her a fussing little Ariel. She was now in a fresh diaper and light yellow pajamas, and the barefoot little imp immediately climbed up onto her mother's lap, squealing, "MILKIE!"

"Oh, I _still_ can't get dressed with you around," Nova said, mock-scolding Ariel. "Okay," she said as she grabbed the baby, but then fell back with a squeal as her bare feet went out from under her.

Luckily, Derek was there to catch her and Ariel as she collapsed against him with her feet in the air and legs open.

Nova chuckled softly as she got Ariel latched on and Derek laughed, putting an arm around her,

Then, they laughed even harder and blushed as Katrina chose _that_ moment to be utterly evil and take a picture of Nova in an utterly ludicrous position as she nervously wriggled her toes on her right foot.

A bit of music began to play on the stereo; a jazzy torch song called, "_My Angel Put the Devil in Me"_, a recent popular song that both Derek and Nova had gotten rather a shine to. Nova was trying to learn to play it on her piano at odd moments.

Katrina stood there grinning as she held up the picture from the instant camera of Derek's. "You two will love zis!"

"Katrina, give it back!" Nova said. "That must show enough of me to…"

"Have a look," said Katrina. "I know how to compose a picture!"

Nova grabbed it while feeding Ariel, and she breathed a sigh of relief that Katrina had not gotten a shot for posterity of her own…diaper area. What could be seen of Nova ended about at her navel, with a great shot of seven of her toes blocking out everything else. Derek was captured laughing like an utter fool while Nova had a look on her face somewhere between embarassment and admiratiion for her baby daughter.

Katrina grinned at her and said, "See. This again shows you have more dignity about you stark naked than that Jade bimbo has in a dress."

"Actually, that's very cute," Nova said with a blush. "Uhhh..Derek?"

"The picture looks cute…but the real you looks far, far cuter," Derek said as he kissed the side of her neck.

"Derek, dear…" Nova said as she smiled back and kissed the side of her husband's neck…and then she kissed her daughter.

The young lovers were laughing softly as Katrina set down the camera and said, "Foxy is waiting for me. I see you two _later_," she said with a wink.

"Yeah, Katrina," teased Derek. "I don't think you want to take pictures of what's going to happen in about the next half hour…we have enough of those that we took on our own…we don't need any help taking those sort of pictures!"

"DEREK!" Nova laughed as she playfully belted her husband. "You're _horrible!_ Katrina does not need to know our private lives!"

"I already have _good idea_ of your private lives," Katrina said with a wink. "That is why I am going! Don't you two make too much noise, now! You will disturb the _entire neighborhood_!"

Nova grabbed a box of tissues and threw them at Katrina as she left. Katrina ducked, made a face at the young couple, and left them thankfully alone with their babies.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, after Nova called Lynn's place (voice-only because she was still undressed) and found out that Jonathan and Shiro had taken off on their bikes to go visit a local hobby shop to buy some astro-fighter models, Nova tucked in a sleepy Alex and Ariel while laughing and trying hard to "fend off" Derek, who was smooching her, tickling her, and playing grabby games with various parts of Nova's unclothed anatomy. "There," she said. "Ariel's finally tucked in and…." Then, Nova bit her tongue as she held back a little yelp, and then she said to Derek, "stop teasing me there every time I bend over!"

"Oh….you want me to pick you up off your feet to do that?"

A minute later, Derek, who was already minus his shirt, did exactly that, carrying Nova out of the nursery in his arms while she kicked and giggled.

The kicking and protesting stopped when they got to their bedroom and Derek kicked open the door to carry Nova in.

They fell on top of each other on the bed, with Nova falling down again in Derek's lap. He kissed her, with one hand teasing her right breast and the other hand going straight to her exposed womanhood.

"My God," whispered Derek between kisses. "How long have you wanted me in this worst possible way?"

"Since I fell in your lap while Katrina was still here and I was feeding Ariel," Nova whispered passionately. "It was a little hard tucking the kids in while you were teasing me, but since we know Jonathan won't be home for a while, please tease away!"

Derek did exactly that as Nova got his shorts open, down, and off as she lay beside him on their bed having her fancy tickled. She began tickling his fancy while she lay there in bliss, in love with him as much as ever as he teased her and made her toes curl up with utter delight.

Finally, when she was about to explode out of her body with sheer pleasure, Derek pulled Nova up on top of him while she kissed him like crazy and mounted him, taking him carefully but quickly. Many blissful, passionate minutes followed as they made each other feel utterly wonderful, loving each other deeply in their shared, hot passion.

Finally, after they both finished up and exploded in each other's arms, Nova fell back against him and cuddled him under the covers, whispering Derek's name and whispering, "I love it when you do things to me like that…"

"I love to be allowed to do things to you, my dear Nova," Derek whispered as Nova kissed him. He held her and said, "How do you feel right now?"

"Like I've died and gone to Heaven with you," Nova whispered. "I'll be putting some clothes on later when I practice my guitar, but right now, let's take a nap, shall we?"

Derek yawned. "Yeah, I feel like Baby Alex right now. A nap with you is a great idea…"

"Good," Nova whispered. "You don't really know how tired I am…with all I've been through with Jeff and Dawn…O, dear God, why do they have to suffer so much?"

"If I knew the answer to that question, Nova…we'd be….oh, I don't know….I don't feel like philosophizing right now, love."

"A bit too mentally challenging?" Nova teased.

"Yeah…especially after what we just did. What did we just do again?" Derek teased.

Nova gave him a little playful slap on the chest and said, "You _know _what we just did! Wanna do it again tonight after Jonathan's home and safely tucked into bed?"

"Now that would be nice…provided one of the babies doesn't wake you up and need one of _these_ in the middle of the night," Derek whispered as he stroked one of her breasts under the covers.

"I think they're just about past the four AM feeding stage by now," Nova said after she yawned again.

"Thank heavens…when do you think you can wean them?"

"Derek, they seem to be doing it themselves…I expect they'll be off my milk by the end of the summer…"

Derek smiled at that. "Which means we'll still have a few more weeks of my randomly opening your clothes you at various times of the day when…"

"Make that randomly stripping me of my top or all of my clothes when we're more or less in private…" Nova whispered.

"Are you complaining?" Derek whispered back.

"With my dishy, sexy one and only Cowboy of Outer Space doing it, who's _complaining_ about you pulling my clothes off? Even though, I have even more fun pulling your clothes off!" Nova murmured. She stroked his chest and said, "I love you…"

"Love you too," Derek mumbled back.

Soon, they were both asleep.

* * *

About an hour to an hour and a half passed.

Nova woke up, yawning, as Nature called. She kissed Derek, who was still sleeping, and went to the bathroom, putting on a fresh pair of panties and a sports bra as she came back.

Then, she found the camera and found Derek sleeping. He had half the covers off, and he looked luscious.

_Do I want to jump back in the sack with you, or do I want to take a picture of you like that, dear?_ Nova mused as she tapped her toes against the rug.

She opted for the latter, going "rrrrrrooowwwwlllll" quietly to herself as she took a picture of her naked young husband, with his sleek yet muscular form exposed between the sheets. Then, he woke up a little right as Nova took another shot, and he looked up at her and said, "Are you taking naughty pictures of me, Nova?"

When the picture came out, Nova smiled and licked her lips. "You're getting good at this, Nova…too good," she said to herself out loud. Then, she said to Derek, "Yes I am, sir. Am I harassing you?"

"If you are, this is a very interesting new form of harassment," Derek yawned.

"Sauce for the goose, sir," Nova teased back as she jumped back onto the bed and kissed his nose. "You love photographing me in all states of bareness…"

"Speaking of which, I love your underwear, Nova..."

"Yes, I rather thought you would, Derek. Oh. In case you have never noticed, I love posing for you in all states of bareness….but you look darn good, too. Almost good enough to eat," she whispered as she mused over whether or not she'd jump back into bed with him for Round Two or not right now.

"Drop that camera, and let me get you out of your underpants and bra…you look overheated, Nova…"

"I do?" she said.

"Ahhh….yes….you are getting quite flushed," he said as he ran his finger down her chest above her little bra.

Nova put down the camera, blushed, and kissed him again, climbing on top of him and smiling….

Then, she heard laughter outside and heard bikes coming down the path between the townhouses….

"Jonathan!" Nova said. "Damnit! I'd better get dressed…sorry, Derek…." Nova said as she kissed him. "Get washed up, quick, Derek. We both need to be decent…he's probably bringing his friend by…and I do have to drive him home later, so I'll even need shoes on…. " she said as she rummaged through her closet as Derek got up, kissed her, and ran off to the bathroom to shower up fast.

* * *

FOUR MINUTES LATER….

Nova had thrown on a top, light overjacket, black choker, Capri jeans, and sandals, and she was messing around with a new pink Fender Telecaster guitar in the living room when Jonathan and Shiro came in.

"Hiya!" yelled Jonathan as he ran up to his mom (after kicking off his shoes) and kissed his mother on the cheek.

"I've been in and out so much," said Shiro, "That I have trouble keeping track of who's who here. Hey, Jonathan, is this your sister Michelle that you talk about so much?"

"_Sister_?" said Nova, puzzled.

"Well, you look so young, especially with those clothes and that guitar," said Shiro. Then, he said, "Are you Jonathan's _mom_?"

"I was the last time I looked," quipped Nova as she looked at herself in a mirror, hoping she had gotten all of the sleep out of her eyes from the afternoon's earlier nap…and other such activities with Derek.

"Oh, Mrs. Wildstar, I'm so _sorry_!" said Shiro as he bowed respectfully to Nova. "Ma'am, meaning no disrespect, you could still pass for a teenager…"

"Actually, since I'm pushing thirty-one, I'm flattered." Nova said with a laugh. She strummed a few more chords, began tapping her foot, and began launching into a current rock piece called _"I've Got Your Heart"_.

Derek came out in a checked shirt and jeans as Nova launched into the refrain singing, _"I've Got Your Heart, I've Got Your Soul, I've Got Your Mind written on my heart…"_

Derek kissed her on the back of the head as she played and sat down with the kids, watching her play and sing. He applauded with the boys when Nova finished, and Shiro said, "I wish my mom could do that?"

"Do what?" Nova mused.

"Play an instrument. She doesn't even sing very well. How did you get so good, ma'am?" said Shiro.

"Practice," Nova said dryly. "When I was your age, Shiro, I'd sometimes play the guitar until my fingers began to bleed."

"eeeeeeeeeewwww!" called out Jonathan and Shiro together.

"You guys are funny," Nova said. "Shiro, want me to drive you and your bike home to your mom's place so she doesn't worry? I have to go out with Jonathan for a bit afterwards. He needs a haircut and I want to be sure they don't cut it all off!"

"MOM!" whined Jonathan. "You let Dad grow his hair long!

"He's getting a trim later this week himself…from me," Nova said. "I think you need one, too, Kobayashi-kun," Nova teased as she mussed up Shiro's hair. She then mussed up Derek's hair and said, "I know you need one. Watch the babies and please don't burn down the townhouse. We're supposed to close on it in two weeks, and I don't Lynn would like it if we burned it down before finishing up the sale. Take care!" Nova said as she kissed Derek. Outside, she opened the trunk of her yellow and black Mustang and pulled out and set up a folding bike rack she and Derek sometimes used to take their bikes various places for rides (they had biked up and down the California Coast at various times, as well as having taken a day trip down to Tijuana once). She then put Shiro's bike in the rack and took off a few minutes later to run her errands.

* * *

**II. DARK MEMORIES**

**(THREE DAYS LATER….)**

**Cometine Empire Capital World**

**Planet Great Andromeda**

**Earth Date: May 5, 2208**

**1631 Hours: Tokyo Megalopolis Time**

**

* * *

**

Emperor Zordar sat morosely before a painting of the old _Gatlantis_ holding a goblet of wine as he turned to his current Chief of Staff, General Karintz, and said, "General, how well do you remember my wife?"

"Do you mean your concubine, lord?" asked Karintz as he bowed.

"Yes, even though she was, to me, my wife," said Zordar. His spouse, Invidia's mother Countess Eloise, could not techincially have been his wife under Cometine Law because she was not of the Race, being a Pellian. Although Zordar had respected her, and in his fashion, loved her, he was only able to hold a commitment ceremony with her, and not a proper Royal Wedding. But, the commitment ceremony had made Princess Invidia his legitimate heir, and it had shown the Countess his love for her.

This had happened about a year before Invidia's birth in the Cometine Imperial Year of 3244, which coincided with the Earth Year of 2183, Invidia was now twenty-five, but she had been twelve when her mother had been killed in a plane crash. Zordar remembered she had been just eighteen when they had gone through the momentous year when they had tried to conquer Earth…and had failed.

Zordar still remembered the day of Eloise's tragic death as if it had been yesterday….

…and it still haunted his dark dreams.

Dreams he did not wish to repeat, and memories he did not wish to revisit….

* * *

**The Cometine City-Ship _Gatlantis_**

**Sometime in the Earth Year 2195**

**Near the Edge of the Andromeda Galaxy…**

* * *

"When is Mother coming home, Father?" Invidia asked as she stood beside her father who was now the Ruling Prince of Gatlantis, watching in the _Gatlantis'_ bowels as they stood in a balcony overlooking the runway on which a Courier Scorpion would soon land. It was carrying Countess Eloise up from the surface of Planet Nerkia, a small blue world in the Magna Star Cluster where the Countess had been sent to finish negotiating a peace treaty with the Nerkians. The Empire's battle with Nerkia had been short, and the Nerkians had decided to surrender and accept Zordar's terms only two days after the war had started.

"The negotiations on Nerkia went well," said Zordar as he hugged Invidia close to him. "Your mother said that Nerkia was very accomodating in choosing to become a part of the Comet Empire. As a result, we will treat them well."

"Father, I overhear the General Staff saying things about Mother," Invidia said. "Zey don't like her much, do they?"

Zordar shook his head. "I hear the same rumors, Invidia. The worst of them supposedly originates with a General named Palvov. I hear word from your Mother he tried to sabotage the negotiations."

"Why would he want to do that?" Invidia asked.

"He thinks the terms I allowed Mother to offer were too lenient, and he does not like the idea that I let your mother take a hand in negotiating on my behalf. Your Mother is a woman of honor, and you know how kind she is. She understands our great power, but she wants us to wield it wisely. I know she follows some of the teachings of those we consider Learned."

"Whom?" Invidia asked.

"The wise men and women of Planet Iscandar; a legendary world in the Great Magellenic Cloud. Someday, Invidia, our Empire will get there, and someday, we will discover Iscandar's secrets. It's also said that there is a strong world out there known as Gamilon. Perhaps we will conquer them someday…and perhaps we will ally with them…who knows? We have a lot of space to conquer before we get there, Invidia, love."

"I know about the Gamilons," Invidia said. "They're currently attacking a silly little planet in the Great Galaxy that they say can't even really fight back. Why would they do that?"

"I don't know much of this world," said Zordar. "What is it called?"

"They call it "Earth" or "Dirt" in their most common tongue," said Invidia with a giggle.

"Odd name for a planet," said Zordar. Then, the comm phone near them on the balcony rang. It was a distinct ring, and Invidia jumped for joy when she heard it. "Mother's signal! She's coming back! Father! Can we have dinner together later on? Prerfeably without snotty Caella around and creepy little Naska?"

"Yes, we can have dinner," said Prince Zordar as he picked up the phone and put it on speaker as Countess Eloise's gentle, dark-haired smiling face appeared on the screen above the elegant two-toned purple and red sleeveless dress that she wore with her own Royal Pin in her beautiful but unruly dark hair which she had a hard time keeping in the requisite Imperial widows' peak. "Hello, there, my dear Countess," said Zordar. "How did it go?"

"It went well, my Prince," said Eloise over the screen as she flipped her hair back in a gentle gesture that Invidia thought was pretty but which was a subtle come-on for Zordar. Eloise smiled at Invidia and said, "How's my darling one today?"

"Great," said Invidia. "Father has me down here with him on the Runway Level. He is letting me see you land! This is only the second time I've seen a ship coming in, and the first time I'm seeing you come in!"

"If you are good," said Eloise. "Would you like to fly out with Father and I when we go down to Nerkia to sign the final treaty tomorrow? We will be good to them. They have agreed to an honorable peace."

"I like that!" said Invidia. Then, Eloise turned to Zordar and said, "I had a strange dream this morning, but I could not discuss it with you, since you had a meeting with the Staff, dear, while I had to kiss Invidia goodbye quickly before I left for Nerkia. May we discuss it now? We are close to approaching the bottom of the City."

"Yes?" said Zordar, puzzled by this. _Why does she mention this now?_ Zordar thought. _They say the Pellians have The Second Sight. Is she manifesting some of this now? _

"I had a dream," said Eloise. "About Pellias. And about a little planet in the Milky Way or Great Galaxy. I think I dreamed of the doom of Pellias, although I do not see how that can be. The Federation is too strong, and they are pushing that madman Ekogaru back. I told you of him once, Zordar…"

"You did," said Zordar, remembering that he saw Invidia shiver when Ekogaru's name was mentioned for the very first time. "But isn't he just a legend of space?"

"No. he is real," said Eloise. "Someday, I think, he will defeat the Federation, and it will be a dark day for Pellias. Then, he may turn his sights upon _us_." Eloise paused as the camera zoomed back a little and the pilot of the Scorpion said, "Flight Control, I request clearance to land with the Countess. Please make the clearance Priority One. The ship is handling a little sluggish…"

"Flight Control Grants Courier Scorpion Four Hundred and Thirty-Five priority clearance in the stack," said a bored-sounding operator in one of the balconies above Zordar and Invidia. "We have you on sensors, Countess. Path is nominal, but your pilot is a little slow. Can he bring his speed up?"

"Are we going to be all right?" asked Eloise.

"Fine, Countess," said the pilot as he saw Countess Eloise looking scared. "You were saying to the Prince?"

Eloise nodded. "In my dream, that little planet…I'm not even sure what it was called…was an ally of ours someday in the distant future…and there was a gallant race there…a race who had made their world bloom again. It is vital that this little world allies with us and comes under our protection, for they…"

"Are you all right?" Zordar snapped.

"Sir, Number Two Engine is cutting out," said the pilot. "Luckily, we can control the ship on one…coming up through the lower section now…"

Zordar remembered the sight of Invidia grasping the balcony hard as they saw the Scorpion shooting up in an arc from the lower part of the City-Ship, and coming in on its glide path at the end of the long runway that they were at the other end of. The black Scorpion began to slow, but it was wobbling a little.

"Father!" said Invidia. "Will they be all right?"

"Nothing to worry about," said Eloise in soothing tones over the phone. She smiled at Invidia and Zordar and said, "Mergar just says it's engine trouble…he says we could even glide in if the other one cuts out…he…"

"Number One is cutting out! Temp off the scale!" yelled the pilot. "Prince Zordar, who maintained this piece of garbage? We…."

"Be careful coming in, Mergar!" yelled Zordar. "Take it easy…take it slow…"

"Mother, about that planet?" said Invidia. "What do they call it?"

"I think in my dream, they call it…"

Suddenly, they were within sight of the balconies. Alarms began to go off as rescue crews scurried to set up fire equipment and a barrier net in case the Scorpion went down badly.

The ship dropped like a stone as the last engine cut out, and they could see the pilot panicking as he worked the control yoke.

Eloise's eyes met Zordar's and she said, "Oh, Arishna, please be…."

Then, the Scorpion slammed nose-first into the runway with a loud crash. Invidia and Zordar saw a final, horrible sight on the screen…namely, the cockpit of the plane filling with flames as the ship again slammed into the runway and bounced three times. They could see poor Eloise with her hair and her dress on fire, and heard her final scream before the image faded out as the Scorpion turned into a fireball….then, the remains of the Scorpion slammed into the runway for one last time and the fireball exploded.

Prince Zordar could remember Invidia looking on and screaming as a few brave rescue workers waded into the fire, smoke and wreckage…and he looked on, sickened, as he heard people yelling,

_"Can we get them out?"_

_"No, they're fused into the seats!"_

_"Can we save the Countess?"_

_"What is there left to save? Half of her is just bones now…we…"_

Then, there was another explosion that even killed the would-be rescue workers.

* * *

Zordar remembered sitting in their suite with Invidia and rocking her and holding her as she screamed in his arms for what seemed to be hours. He guessed it was hours. From what they had overheard, they knew Eloise was gone two hours before the remains of the ship were finally safe to approach and they were officially given the grim news that the poor Countess was dead.

The wake, funeral, and mourning period passed in a daze. Zordar, for the sake of form, had to order the execution of the Nerkian High Council, and in his rage and grief, Zordar took it out on the Nerkians, who were reduced to slavery, mining in pits on their world either in rags or naked. Prince Zordar also began to extend his new, deep cruelty to other colony worlds that Gatlantis had conquered as the once-aggressive in war but honorable in peace Prince degenerated overnight into the vengeful, terrible warlord whose name would be feared and cursed across the galaxies. Without Eloise's softness, Zordar became a brusque and cruel man that everyone in the Comet Empire feared, even (at times) his own daughter Invidia.

Zordar found out that General Palvov had apparently known that Eloise would die that day. Finally, after severe torture in an experimental device known as the Sphere of Joy, Palvov finally confessed to planning her assassination by sabotaging her ship after half of his naked skin had been roasted off him while he was still alive. Zordar then ordered that he was to be executed in the Sphere of Joy by being roasted down to his bones just as the crash had done to Eloise. Zordar remembered that Invidia had been there with him during the torture and the execution. In fact, she had become cruel, filled with a rage that was frightening in an twelve-year old child, and she insisted on running the equipment herself and taunting Palvov for killing her mother as he had died screaming in utter agony.

In the present, Zordar morosely finished his wine as he threw away his goblet and then said to himself, "It is Twelve Kilev. The anniversary of her death, which coincides with the Terran date of May the fifth. Invidia always takes this particular day quite hard. I wonder how she is doing?"

* * *

**ABOUT ONE HOUR LATER…(1802 Hours: Tokyo Megalopolis Time)**

Foxy came home to Foxworth Manor that day from a meeting with some investors looking for Katrina.

He could not find her after searching much of the mansion, and he was gettiing very concerned.

Finally, Foxy turned to Elke Johannson, his pretty chief maid, whom he found sitting in a bed in her quarters buckling on one of her sandals to do some work outside after he knocked for admittance and she let him in. When inside her small suite, he demanded of her, "Where is Katrina? You always seem to be abreast as to what she's up to? Where is she?"

"Sir," said Elke with a respectful bow as she stood after buckling on her shoe. "She is in your suite. She refuses to come out, and she is crying. I am most concerned because she even turned Michelle away."

"She turned away _Michelle_?"

Elke gulped and said, "Yes, sir. I do not know what has gotten into the poor woman. I am more used to her anger than her tears, honestly, Mr. Foxworth-Savela. This is most irregular. She states she only wishes to see you, or her friend, the young Commander."

This reference puzzled Foxy a little and he asked, "The young Commander?"

"Yes, sir. Mrs. Wildstar. I don't see what purpose could be served by bringing that poor kind young mother here to the Manor today. Every time she is here, Katrina overloads her with work, even more work than I sometimes undertake, but she almost never protests. What kind of woman is that?"

"Someone who is…different," said Foxy. "I'll try to see Mrs Katrina."

"Thank you, sir," said Elke with a bow.

Foxy then went to the master bedroom where he and Katrina slept. He banged on the double doors and said, "Katrina! Please let me in! This is Kazuo!"

"I may let you in!" Katrina yelled through sobs. "But I haf to think about it! I am very, _very_ depressed! I want my mother!"

Foxy went to the doors and said, "Dearest, I wish I could produce your mother. But I cannot. I'm sorry, but your mother…has gone beyond anyone's power on Earth to retrieve. And I wish I could help you…would holding you help?"

"NO!" yelled Katrina. "At least not now, forgive me!" she added. She lay on the bed crying as Invidia. "Please get me someone with my mother's eyes. She even sounds like her. I need to be held by Nova for a while. She reminds me of Mother!"

"I don't know if I can produce her from out of a hat, my love," said Foxy. "She has a family…she has a husband…she does have a career and life apart from you. But I'll try her at home. If they are even in Tokyo right now. They may have gone back to the West Coast of the States."

Foxy called the Wildstars' large house in the Megalopolis. On the second ring, he was staggered to get Nova, who was caught shrugging off a labcoat, carrying a wailing Ariel, and gesticulating at Jonathan with a spatula. Nova finally caught on that Foxy was on the line and said, "Okay. Foxy. I thought it was Derek! I'm expecting a call from him! What is it?"

"Nova, I'm sorry, but Katrina is freaking _out_. She locked herself in the bedroom, she is crying, refuses to see Michelle, refuses to see me, and says she only wants you because you remind her of her mother?"

"What day is it on the calendar?" sighed Nova as she yelled at Jonathan, "Jon, I love you, but you do that again, and you are grounded _for a week! _That means no Shiro, no Mike, and no seeing Felicia! And stop tormenting Fluffy with those cat toys and those stupid noises! You're fifteen and you _know_ better!"

"Awwww, MOM!" yelled Jonathan.

"Would you rather deal with me, or with your father?" Nova snapped. "Yes?" Nova said as she turned back to Foxy as she turned back to Foxy with a gesture of _this is my life! Insane!_ "Foxy, I've been forgetting lately, what with Dawn calling me every day or hour, so what day is today? Make it quick!"

"It's…May the Fifth…I…"

"Explains everything," Nova sighed. "She and I talked at great length about this one night. Get some brandy, see if she will let you in. If not, wait for _me_. I can be there in ninety minutes," Nova said as a beep came over the video phone. "That's Derek. When I come over, he is to be let into the Manor after me, no questions. Talk later. Bye!"

Nova clicked off.

Foxy yelled through the door. "Katrina, Nova will be here in an hour and a half. Do you want some brandy?"

"Not now!" yelled Invidia.

Foxy went to the doors and said, "Katrina, if you are in black, if you know what I mean, you'd better Change, if you know what I mean. You don't want Nova to see you like that if you are being the Princess! Is that clear?"

Invidia sobbed and said, "Clear. I am Changing now…"

She Changed back into Katrina and banged her pillow and screamed sobs into it.

* * *

At Earth Defense Headquarters, it was now close to 1900.

In the meantime, Major Gary Maples, controlled by Ekogaru, of course, managed to get back to Great Island, having just arrived back in the Tokyo Megalopolis the previous night.

When he arrived there, he immediately went to see General Stone, who was working late in his office. Maples knocked at the door and asked Stone, "May I come in?"

"Yes, Major," said Stone. Maples came in and shut the door. "What do you want?" Stone demanded.

"Sir," said Maples, who was not entirely lying. "While I was near Beijing, I found out some more information regarding the Josiahites."

"The followers of the late Yvona Josiah?" said Stone. "It's a miracle if any are left. I understand that Yvona is long dead and that, a bit less than a year ago, that damned hippie rebel Commodore Derek Wildstar and his airheaded flower child wife ran into a clone of her while they were mucking about on a train in Russia. The clone is supposed to have saved their lives and then vanished down some dimensional rift with some Technomugar or R'Khell agent. Is that right?"

Maples nodded grimly, knowing the story from not only the perspective of reports and briefings, but, thanks to the Entity in his head, he knew that Ekogaru felt betrayed by the failure of his mad son and the betrayal of him by the very clone of the bitch Yvona he had created. Maples then said, (with Ekogaru's urging), "That's the trouble with clones, sir. You clone something, you never quite know _what_ you'll get. Although I wonder what would happen if the Dark Lord ever got hold of some cells from some of those so-called heroes and started boiling a little brew with their genetic material? Oh, human cloning is against the law on Earth, but I do not believe Ekogaru follows our statutes, sir. And he's so insane and advanced he could probably make a copy of a person from a few little bits of hair!"

"Let's hope he doesn't," snorted Stone. Maples held back a smirk as he and Ekogaru thought, _Guess what, Moron? He already has some genetic material! The sort that comes in hair follicles and comes off in strands of hair at the tips of those strands! And, when I find a proper base with a lab and some clone tanks, I plan to start cooking a nasty little gift that will grow and grow and grow and, lo and behold, the Earthlings will hate it!_

General Stone got a phone call a moment later. "Hello, Jade," he said softly into the phone. "Hon, I know you're waiting for me. I'm stuck. Here at the office. Stupid damn cow Chelsea will never suspect a thing. Who's Chelsea? My wife. Last year's model. I love you, dear. I love only you, and I will love you forever, until the end of time. Yes, I'll love you forever, Jade. Yes, dear, you sing well. Far better than that ancient singer, what did they call him? Hamburger? Meat Bread? Oh. Meat Loaf. Yeah, that was him. Stupid fucking Chelsea," muttered Stone as he lit a cigar. "If I could figure out some way not to pay the bitch alimony…Yes, dear, yes Jade, I'll never forget you. It's cute how you count on your toes, dear. No, you are not an airhead, and I love you. Smooch smooch." Stone hung up, and looked at Maples and said, "Fucking airhead," as Maples began to laugh.

"Why do you keep her around?"

"She's good in bed. Downright sexy and crazy in bed, matter of fact. Way better than my frigid wife Chelsea and better than my usual mistress, who is having pangs of guilt about our long-term relationship _again_ and is getting near one of these female menopausal things, so she has me on the shelf and is trying to make nice with her ostensible husband all over again. But she'll be back to protect her husband," chuckled General Stone. "I've got enough blackmail shit on him to ruin any political career he may ever want to have, so my usual lady will come back to me to keep him safe. Women can be funny, Gary. You know that? I tell this mistress of mine I'd like to have her daughter in bed with us one night to make it a nice little threesome, and the bitch slaps me! Stupid dark-haired cow! I get ignored by my wife and slapped across the face by Mistress One, which means that I have to make time with Mistress Two. Of course, keeping Jade apart from Mistress One has been sort of an amusing exercise, but it's been doable. Don't you think women are weird, Gary?"

"Yes, sir, they stink. But, sir, the reason I'm here. I have intelligence on the R'Khells, and I need a ship to get off planet and follow it. As soon as possible. Can I get a ship?"

Stone puffed at his smelly cigar and thought hard for a moment. Then, he said, "I have access to a so-called "private" courier vessel…based upon the design of an _O'Malley_ class planetary cutter. She has a wave motion engine and she can warp, but maybe only about a thousand lightyears per jump. Getting her into R'Khell space would probably take you about anywhere between fourteen to twenty days; you can cut that time in half if you warp her twice daily. You'll get a small crew of eight. It will be two other officers and six men; _you_ are in command. It will have some defensive weapons, but don't go trying to fight a major battle. If you get into an entanglement, you run. And don't ask for formal assistance; we are going to follow the law of plausible deniability and we will not be able to assist you openly. Are we clear?"

Maples nodded. "When can I pick up my ship?"

"Pick her up tomorrow; Dock Fifteen, Yokohama Space Naval Yards. The vessel will be named the _Nicolai_. Take it, go tomorrow, and God be with you," said Stone. "You get in trouble, I know nothing."

Maples smiled and saluted. "Thank you, sir…"

* * *

At the Wildstar residence, in the meantime, Derek had gotten home from his meeting at Earth Defense Headquarters. Ironically, his path and Maples' path crossed as they ended up in the same lift, heading down, with Maples smirking at Derek while he thought about the intelligence he had heard from Sandor and some other members of the Inter-Space Committee at the briefing.

"Nova," said Derek as he knelt down beside her near Alex's high chair as he helped Nova feed the babies some beef stew, pureed, "The good news is that they are not finding any evidence that the Sun is expanding. That is a definite, so that any fears that the sun might be burning its nuclear fuel prematurely and on the way to being a red giant have been dispelled. For now. That is pending further observation, of course. And we don't know when this Solar Max cycle will end, either. It could still be hot in December, and you may have to do your Christmas shopping in a bikini top, but we don't think that we have to open the underground cities up again."

"Thank God! You're still going to be observing it closely when you take off on your mission in the late summer?" Nova asked as she flew a spoon around like a plan and made it "land" in Ariel's mouth. The baby ate most of the stew quite happily.

"Uh-huh," Derek said as he got a spoon for Alex. "How did the practice flight go this morning?"

"It went well," Nova said. "I was in my Tiger between 0800 to about 1030. Debriefed at 1100, and got to Central Hospital at 1200. Made rounds examining some of Doctor Sane's patients, consulted with him and wrote two minor prescription changes myself as a Nurse-Practitioner after said consults were completed, and got done with my shift by 1700. Got home, found the kids acting up a little, managed to restore order, and then, Foxy calls up. I told you that's why I have to leave in a bit," Nova said as she knelt in the rather battered jeans and red top she had changed into after getting a little settled at home.

"How long will you be, you think?" Derek asked.

"Maybe an hour and a half, maybe two hours," Nova said. "It should not take that long to get Katrina calmed down. I think we'll be eating late; sometime between 8:30 and 9 o' clock tonight…is that all right?" Nova asked.

Derek yawned. "I had a snack before I left Headquarters, so I'll probably be able to survive until you get in. Getting sleepy all of sudden," Derek yawned.

"You get some rest," Nova said tenderly as she kissed Derek on the cheek. "You look utterly exhausted, my love."

"Yeah. Worry will do that to you," Derek said as he finished feeding Alex and got his bib off. Jonathan ran in in the meantime, and he dutifully assisted his father with Ariel while Nova picked up a purse.

Then, the phone rang again. "Ohhh..I do hope that's not Foxy or Katrina again," Nova sighed. "They know I'm driving over!" Nova answered the phone, but she didn't recognize the woman's voice, and she did not recognize the slightly severe dark brown hairdo on the woman on the line. "_Moshi-moshi_…Wildstar residence," Nova said. "May I ask you what you need, ma'am?"

"You're Nova Forrester-Wildstar?" asked the woman on the other end.

"I don't hypenate my name, but, yes, I'm Mrs. Wildstar," Nova said politely, a little embarrased that she had been caught in a somewhat grungy outfit on her way out. "Your face looks somewhat familiar but I can't place it. You are?"

"Mrs. Chelsea Stone, Mrs. Wildstar. I'm returning your message."

"Oh, _yes_," Nova said as she stepped into her white thong sandals as she talked. "I wanted to talk to you, Mrs. Stone. About…your husband? He was acting very inappropriately the other day at a funeral in San Diego. He…"

"I think I know where this is going," Mrs. Stone sighed as she dabbed at a corner of her eye and wiped away a tear. "He's seeing other women again?"

Nova nodded sadly. "His latest…conquest…if you can call it that, is a woman from Headquarters named Ensign Jade Foster. Not the most savory person in the world…she…"

"I get the picture; it's happened before," sighed Mrs. Stone. She stopped and said, "Can't talk for long…his aircar just pulled up. He hates it when I talk to other women on the phone. Where can we meet up for lunch tomorrow?"

Nova bit her lip and then said, "La Brasserie Café. It's a small French bistro near Central Hospital. They have tables outside; we can sit under an umbrella and talk. I like to meet up there quite often with Derek."

"Make it thirteen hundred, if you can manage," said Mrs. Stone. Then she said, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Wildstar. I have to go! The last time he caught me talking to some girl…he slapped the phone out of my hand…"

"Oh, God no," Nova said. _Why doesn't she leave him?_ Nova thought. _This is an abusive relationship!_ "I have to run, too," Nova said. "I have to go see a friend, and then get home and make some Garlic Tilapila for my husband and I later on. Take care!"

Chelsea Stone nodded and hung up.

* * *

** Nova drove over to Foxy and Katrina's place in a beat-up yellow 2203 Fiat sports convertible groundcar that her cousin Jane had owned; Nova was caring for the old car while Jane remained in the hospital, but she was getting to like the banged-up old convertible and was thinking of making Jane an offer for it so she could begin restoring it.

Nova drove casually, with the top down, and her sandals kicked off, working the pedals and clutch expertly in her bare feet as she took the long way around to Foxworth Manor, flipping up her sunglasses occassionally as the motor and turbo whizzed along at her command with the wind whipping in her hair as she drove.

_Here I go, passing the docks and the nearest WorldPower grid node as I look for the turnoff to Matsunaga Street, _Nova thought. _Darn me. I yelled at Derek the other day for getting lost. Now am I lost?_

It turned out that Nova was not lost; just a few blocks out of direction. She finally found Matsunaga Street, and then followed the curving road until she found the gates for Foxwoth Manor.

Nova pulled in, shifted the car into neutral and pulled up the handbrake to secure it. She stepped out of the car, kicked her flip-flops back on, and walked into the mansion, not stopping until she found the ancient-style elevator. She closed the metal gate on the lift and ran it up to the third floor, getting off and walking down the corridors until she appeared before Foxy and Katrina's master bedroom doors before a very surprised Foxy.

"Where is she?" Nova asked.

"Right here," said Foxy.

Nova tapped hard at the doors and called out, "Katrina! This is Nova! Can I come in with Foxy?"

There was a long paused until Katrina finally said, "Yes, you can come in; I guess. Nova, no problem with Foxy, but I need you to hold me. You remind me so much of my dead mother it is not funny…"

The doors opened, and Nova walked in, kicking her shoes off at the door. Both she and Foxy held Katrina as she cried pitiably. Nova could see most of a bottle of brandy lying empty on the floor near the large bed as she hugged Katrina, who said, "Nova, you remind me so much of Mother right now…she had dark hair, but your eyes, your voice, our soft arms, your smell, even, you are my mother, my lost dead mother who died so cruelly…O, please forgive me…._Arika' djaega ma-quada e'mshlada, shlada, naga triki, dla'ja ega, mada, mada, mada…o….aga, Ari'tla, ooooo, oooooooo_" whined Katrina drunkenly in Cometine before she gagged and threw up on the floor.

Nova held her and patted her on the back as she coughed and retched through being sick. Katrina had on a long black nightgown that was soon slightly stained as Nova got a wet rag and came back and held her while Foxy tenderly cleaned the mess up from off the floor.

Katrina grabbed for the brandy bottle, but Nova gently nudged it away with her foot and said, "Katrina, you're already sick from overindulging, dear…I don't think you should have any more…"

"You're condemning me!" cried Katrina in her pain and paranoia.

"No, I'm not," Nova said. "When I'm not pregnant or nursing children or on a mission, I've been known to go on a bender or two myself when stressed. Just ask Derek. Once on my honeymoon with him, I woke up hung over and stark naked up in a palm tree on Dominica, and I still have no idea to this day how I got there."

Katrina smiled a little at that. "Who was up in tree wid you?"

"Derek. Also hung over, and also naked. He had no idea how he got there, either. Another time, we had a bad time with General Stone one night at a dance, and we came home and guzzled down a big bottle of sake between the two of us. That's how the knee got torn out on the pants I have on now," Nova said. "Something about trying to roller-skate down the street together at three in the morning, and…."

A moment later, Derek himself came in, clad in an old pair of jeans, sandals, and a green pullover. He was carrying Ariel in his arms; the little baby girl had on a very cute sleeper. Jonathan came behind in his school uniform carrying little Alex. Wildstar caught what Nova was talking about, and as he sat on the bed by Katrina, patting her on the head as he cuddled his daughter, he said, "Yeah, Nova. And you fell on your butt three times that night with your roller skates on."

"It was two!" Nova insisted.

"Three times; I fell twice," Derek said. "We both looked stupid."

"You wanted ice skates on," Nova said.

"No, you did," said Derek as Katrina began to smile a little at their silly argument. "Nova, you cannot go down the street in ice skates…"

"Unless there's ice," Nova countered.

"In July?" Derek said.

"Okay, you got me there," Nova said.

They both held Katrina until she whimpered and fell asleep. Then, both Derek and Nova got up and manuevered her into Foxy's lap.

"When do you leave on your second honeymoon?" Derek asked.

"About a week and a half from now," said Foxy. "We have things set up to go to Dominica, too."

"Does she always get like this when she remembers her mother?" Nova asked softly.

"Yes, but never this bad. Then again, I never had her on the actual anniversary before…"

"Poor dear," Nova said softly. Nova did not know that her comforting Katrina over her mother's death would become a regular occurrence on every May the fifth….

..for the next _thirty _years….

…and even after Nova and Derek finally learned who Katrina really was.

* * *

Later on, the Wildstar family returned home in their respective cars.

At home, Nova got an adorable picture of Derek on the couch with little Ariel on his chest after he kicked off his shoes and fell asleep on the couch playing with his little daughter.

Jonathan was playing his mother's piano (albeit somewhat badly) when he found his mother crashed out on the floor near Derek's couch, holding little Alex on her chest. Nova was fast asleep, and so was Alex.

Jonathan smiled at them, and he got a pillow for his mother. He smiled at both of his parents, and then went off to do some homework while his tired parents slept near each other.

Later on, he surprised them by calling out for pizza and steak sandwiches while they were asleep…and paying for everything himself out of his allowance, with his father promptly repaid him for.

Then, the whole family sat on the floor (including the babies,who were fed bits of pizza and cheese steaks right in their parents' laps) and ate, discussing the events of the day and catching up on things. Since the babies weren't nursing as much now, Nova felt confident enough to take a few sips…just a _few_ sips, of Derek's can of Sapporo Ichiban Beer as she shared it with him sitting on the floor attacking the pizza box and good-naturedly fighting Jonathan for the pieces of pizza that had anchovies on them.

Then, while Alex and Ariel crawled around the living room behind a baby gate that Nova put up, the two young officers and their adopted son put on a tri-d fantasy movie that they enjoyed up to 2300 Hours, when it was time for bed.

Alex and Ariel went to bed after their bath. Jonathan also turned in.

Nova and Derek then also went to bed (but not to sleep), finally falling asleep bare in each other's arms at about 0100 Hours the next morning, which was, of course, May the sixth.

It was a sweet, gentle family night for the little family.

* * *

**III. CONFLICTS AND PLANS**

**Rio Amarillo Complex**

**The Hardy Residence**

**San Diego**** Megalopolis**

**May 5, 2208**

**0910 Hours**

**

* * *

**

**"YOU did what?"** Jefferson Hardy demanded of Dawn Hardy as they stood facing each other angrily in their townhouse in San Diego. Thanks to the vagarities of the International Date Line, their argument came at the same time that Derek and Nova Wildstar were cuddling naked and nearly asleep in a state of blissful togetherness in each other's arms in Tokyo the next day.

There was no such blissful togetherness here as Dawn yelled, "I was at a high school dance last night, Jeff! Okay?"

"You have a baby boy here!" yelled Jeff as he looked with sadness at little David. In the current subdued light, his blond hair looked a little darker than usual, and he was gurgling softly at his father as he tried to focus upon his daddy's face with his big eyes, which were turning out to be an enchanting shade of green. "You were out so late, and we ran out of milk, so guess who I had to beg to nurse him?"

"Who?"

"SASHA!" yelled Jefferson. "I had to get Sasha to nurse my own child while you are out screwin' around at yoah old high school, namely, Rancho Carne High, in that damn Varsity jacket o' yoahs! Why do ya have to go back to a school ya graduated from years ago?"

"I miss it," countered Dawn. "And how come you had no formula in the place?"

"Because you threw it all away and said you could nurse yoah son yourself! That's all well and good, except when you come home at two in the morning, missing a shoe, laughing your head off, and smelling like a distillery!"

"So, I didn't know the kids would spike the Gamilon Seawater punch there! The teachers didn't know, either, and the chaperones were clueless!"

"Dawn, _you're_ clueless!" yelled Hardy.

"And you are a snotbag!" yelled Dawn as she stamped her flip-flop clad foot on the floor. "Snotbag, snotbag, _snotbag_!" Then, little baby David began to cry, and she turned to the baby in his bassinet (who had on nothing but his diaper in the humidity) and yelled, "SHUT UP!" in her son's face. She tried to pick him up, but Jeff pushed her away and walked around comforting his son himself after picking him up. He was a bit afraid to let Dawn have him, since she had come close to shaking him the other day before he had stopped her. With such a tiny baby, shaking him could very easily kill him.

"Little baby _snot!_" yelled Dawn. "I _hate_ him!"

"Don't blame our son for your damn problems!" snapped Jeff. David was crying like mad now. Jefferson could tell he was hungry. Finally, he said to Dawn, "Could you please, dear, condescend to nurse our son?"

Dawn took him, and then she lifted up her shirt and let him latch on while he nursed at her breast. _I hate this…I'm not a fucking cow!_ Dawn thought as tears of rage ran down her face.

She snarled at him as he nursed, pulling a lock of his hair as he suckled at her. She looked thoroughly frustrated, and thoughts of harming her son were going through her mind right now. All new mothers, even Nova, grew frustrated with their babies at times, but Dawn was the one woman in their little circle who was closest to throwing her son (her little damn boat anchor) out a window.

Jeff watched them, and he felt sadness and rage at this scene.

Sadness, that Dawn, at the moment, apparently hated the one baby left to her.

Rage, that she was not a better mother.

And, disappointment, major disappointment, that she was such a poor, poor wife.

_You selfish woman_, he thought. _How did we ever come to this? We've been together for just over a year, and now….oh, I know part of this is post-partum depression, but, still….Dawn, couldn't you just grow up?_

Then, Dawn cut off all further discussion by throwing a crying fit with little David in her arms. She took the baby with her into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.

And, Jefferson Hardy, not for the first time as of late, was again left all alone with his thoughts….

* * *

_Excerpt from the Upcoming Historical Work: Baptisms of Fire: Vol. 3, The Confused Years 2207-2214, by the Hon. Nova Wildstar, Commodore, MD, JD, Ph.D, Random House, New York, 2234. All Rights Reserved._

_"…..One thing that I have forgotten, thus far, to mention in my account of the events of 2207-08 happens to be the strange, strange story of the Mongo Family._

_The Mongo family was an old and honorable line of American and British stock. For some reason, perhaps showing what might best be described as very poor judgment, a member of a distaff side of the Mongos emigrated from the United States to Anglia around 2140 or so; supposedly for tax reasons. They thought that the taxes were lower in Britain than in the United States. _

_Passing aside Jupiter Mongo's bizarre sense of….judgment…for the moment, Jupiter married a local woman named Molly Jones whose brother was named Desmond, who once ran a barrow in the marketplace in Kingston, Jamaica and grew marijuana for a sideline. Jupiter and Molly had somewhere around nine or ten children. Rumor has it that some of them ended up residing in the Nevada Desert around the time of the Trinity X series of nuclear tests in the 2160's. Their fate is better left undescribed but some say some of threm are still alive, as a family of strange, inbred mutants that not even the Cosmo-DNA could fix. This writer does not care to meet them. A son of Jupiter and Molly known as Fred and born in 2154 remained in Britain where he grew up to be a minor tradesman for the Surrey Housing Council. Fred "Shabby" Mongo, as his peers called him, worked for the Council as a skilled plumber whose specialty was septic tanks and sewer systems. He is still alive, although this writer's sources state he is now suffering from a severe case of advanced Alzheimer's and does not now remember his own name but will gladly answer to the name "Michael Palin." He married a woman named Shammy McGonigal from Scotland. Shammy remained a housewife for her entire life. She still believes she is one, and she now resides in a geriatric home near San Diego, California. This writer recently met her for an interview for this chapter. In said interview, she ranted and raved, and threw a bedroom slipper at this writer, calling her "a nosy, posh git of a pretentious bird in a miniskirt who's putting on bloody airs and why're yer' leavin' that bloody vomitous friggin' penguin on me television set, luv? HUH?"_

_It goes to say that Fred (aka "Shabby") and Shammy had eight children. Those eight children were as follows: a set of triplets born in 2175 who were named Rizen J. Mongo, Trachea J. Mongo, and Troglodyte J. Mongo, affectionately called "Troggie" by his peers. It must be noted that "Trachea" is the eldest female of the line who understandably goes by her middle name "Jennifer" as an adult. They were followed by a set of twins born in 2178 known as Victor J. Mongo and Cinderella J. Mongo. (It must be noted that this writer actually knew Victor Jocko Mongo during his brief college career before he failed all of his courses and became a Space Marine Sergeant.) The only single child, Elvis J. Mongo, was born in 2179. The last two children, twins, were born in 2181 and went by the names Mongo J. Mongo and Danny J. Mongo. Perhaps the diverging careers of Mongo and Danny Mongo will best describe the directions this bizarre family was pulled in by events. In brief, Mongo J. Mongo joined the malcontent racist cult of the Josiahites in 2201, and ended up being one of those who captured the space battleship Potempkin in 2202. _

_Somehow, during the Battleship Potempkin's odd journey, Mongo jumped ship and found a home amongst other inbred mutants such as himself in the depths of the R'Khell Union. He eventually found new employment with another group of terrorists on Planet Spectra. On the other hand, his brother, Danny J. Mongo, found himself attending Pan-Am University in San Diego where he became an exceptional student, although he also became notorious for his bizarre dorm pranks involving shaving cream and small animals. Danny found himself in the Earth Defense Forces as a pilot, where he later became a member of the Black Tigers on the Argo herself. But that is a story for another chapter. We are primarily interested in Mongo Jameson Mongo as a case study. I have completed a psychological autopsy of this man, whose history began like this…."_

* * *

In the meantime, we now return to the present, where, at about the same time as Hardy and Dawn's disagreement, on Planet Spectra in the Crab Nebula, strange things were afoot.

The planet looked somewhat like Earth, save that it had become grossly polluted over the centuries thanks to industrial overdevelopment and relentless mining of its resources. It was nowhere near as ruined as Gamilon had once been, but under its smoggy, reeking skies, it was getting there as an acid rain ate at some stone buildings on an island near a coast of the Great Continent of Spectra.

The island was known as Bast Island, and it was the personal preserve and base of General Ibn Zoltar.

The weepy, stinking rain subsided down to a drizzle as a ship came in for a landing on one of the landing pads on Bast Island near one of the many cavern entrances. The whole island was filled with caves that led to deep tunnels that underlay the Spectran Imperium Base that took up most of the island.

Steams and smokes came from the Spectran ship as a landing ramp came down and the troops lined up on each side of the tarmac snapped to attention.

Zoltar purposefully strode down the landing ramp of his ship, accompanied by his lumpish, stupid bodyguard and manservant Mongo J. Mongo. Zoltar was walking slowly towards another Spectran Warlord with roughly the same rank, a blue-skinned man known as General Egobosslar.

"The Great Spirit bless you, lord," said Egobosslar as Zoltar approached him and he saluted.

Zoltar swung his pointer, returned the salute and said, "The Luminous One grant you Light," as he returned the salute. Then, he turned to Egobosslar and said, "How has your research of the life histories of the crew of the accursed space battleship _Argo_ been going?"

"The assignment you gave me?" laughed Egobosslar. "My contacts are discovering things for me. I have the biographies of most of the major command crew here in this portfolio," said Egobosslar as the two Spectran generals went down into a cavern together. The two warlords then entered a lift, which went down several hundred meters to a deep level of the base. A bell went off, and the doors hissed open, revealing a sterile-looking corridor.

They went down it and accepted the salute of several guards when they came to a set of double doors. Thus, they passed into an office suite; ignoring the outer office and the robotic secretaries, they went into the inner office, which was an elegant-looking room that one got into by going down a corridor built at the bottom of a canyon on Bast Island; the canyon actually gave a view of the sky through some of the windows, and the view could be spectacular at night when the stars were out.

They entered into Zoltar's private office, where another set of windows gave a view of the leaden smog-filled sky, the sea, and the nearby coast of the Great Continent. Egobosslar sat and handed Zoltar a large portfolio while Zoltar turned on some music; a bootleg, unreleased version of the Beatles' song "_Not Guilty_" from 1968 filled the office, at ear-splitting volume. In researching Earth culture, Zoltar had received a selection of rock and roll, and he rather liked the louder, more discordant stuff.

Zoltar pulled off his mask, exposing his cruel face and long blond hair, and then he began to read over the contents.

"Commodore Derek Wildstar, Lieutenant Commander Tetsu Kitano, Commander Stephen Sandor…nice work…." Zoltar read a bit longer until he took out two histories. "Lieutenant Commander Diane Henson. Commander Nova Wildstar. The two women who were aboard the _Argo_ when it dared to counterattack me the other day. Both enchanting women, by the looks of them, although Henson looks to be the stronger of the two. It appears this Wildstar is no intellectual slouch, though, is she the sister of the Commander of the ship? Hmmm….no…_bondmate!_ This makes this even better. And this Henson…is a former paramour of the vessel's Commander, too…and potential bondmate of the First Mate. This is…fascinating. What do you think are the chances of success that I can capture _both_ of them?"

"Hard to say; their security is tight on their ship in some aspects, but very shabby in others," said Egobosslar as he drank some red wine he had taken from Zoltar's desk. "Would you like to give me the job of bringing you one or both of these sluts?"

"I"d prefer to do it myself," purred Zoltar as he began digging in a small bag that held his "stash" of _shlanka_, a Spectran plant that was close to the plant known as _cannibas sativa_ or marijuana on Earth. Zoltar was a regular smoker of the potent Spectran Weed. "I was planning an attack upon their Government in the next few weeks, but…"

"Can I come along, Boss? HUH?" yelled Mongo in his strangely childlike voice.

"No," said Zoltar. "I need _you_ here on my base to shine my weapons and sweep out my office," he said as he began to roll a small, ugly-looking handmade cigarette coloquially known as a 'joint'.

Mongo yelled, "Wooo wooo woo woo woo woo, _woo_!"

"Are you a fool?" hissed Egobosslar, who looked thoroughly evil with the light shining off his blue-skinned face, bringing out an old scar in sharp relief.

"Nope, I'm a bona-fidey moron! Member of Amalgamated Council of Half-Wits Local Number Thirty-Two!"

"Sounds appropriate," said Egobosslar as he drank some wine.

"Mongo, please go and clean out the reactor room again, would you?" said Zoltar as he lit his joint. "You don't need the lead-lined suit this time; it only appears to get in your way!"

"Yeah, Boss!" yelled Mongo as he saluted and left, banging his bald head into the wall in passing.

"A terrorist war makes things so much more interesting," said Egobosslar as he laughed, "To the Great Game, lord!"

"The Great Game!" said Zoltar as both evil men clinked glasses and then laughed like madmen. "Want some?" said Zoltar as he offered his smoking joint to Egobosslar.

"I prefer the wine, thank you."

"To each his own," said Zoltar as he lay back like a contented mountain lion and began to smoke his _shlanka_.

* * *

**IV. OF PEACE AND OF WAR**

**Earth**

**The Caribbean Region: Dominica**

**EDF Rest and Recreation Facility Foxtrot**

**Saturday, May 21, 2208**

**0910 Hours**

* * *

The flight was not that long for the most recently-arrived couple to come to the newly-renamed EDF R & R Facility Foxtrot on Dominica, which was where Derek and Nova Wildstar had enjoyed their honeymoon years ago.

The couple here was about to enjoy a long-awaited second honeymoon.

A Jet Recon Boat finally landed, with Katrina Savela herself at the controls. It was a very good thing that Invidia had actually been trained on how to fly a spaceplane years ago in the Comet Empire. Otherwise, her ruse as Katrina would not have lasted nearly as long as it actually did.

Not long after arriving on Dominica, Katrina got out of the Jet Recon Boat….landing on one of the landing pads near the bungalow. There had been more construction there since 2201, and there were now landing pads at the edge of the jungle as well as near the beach.

And, with no ado, she began to shed her flight boots, helmet, and then her flight suit.

She shushed Foxy and kept on stripping. Her underwear came off next, and then she went for a small bag in her luggage.

"Katrina! What are you…?"

"It is hot here, yes?" Katrina said as she stood naked before him.

With a smile, she Changed into herself…into Invidia.

Then, she put her Royal Pin in her hair and stood wiggling her toes as Princess Invidia openly went naked and barefoot as _herself_ outdoors on Earth for the first time ever.

A moment later, she threw her bag over her shoulder, and found a big leaf to use as a parasol to shade herself and Foxy as she grabbed him and stripped him of his flight suit…boots….

..and then, everything else.

Invidia smiled at him as she watched him pick up his clothes, put them in his bag, and he began to walk down the path towards the same bungalow that the Wildstars had used for their honeymoon, which was nearly seven years ago now.

As he walked along….a certain part of Foxy's anatomy began to wake up and come to….

…attention as he walked along naked, looking at his lovely naked wife.

Finally, he stopped. "Invidia," he said.

"Yes?" she purred.

"I have…a problem," he said.

Invidia laughed. "I believe I have noticed, Foxy one. Actually, I have a problem, too…"

Foxy then looked at Invidia, taking in her breasts, stomach, navel, hair, et cetera, down to her toes, and then, he said, "We shall require some therapy for this problem. The question is…where?"

Invidia threw off her bag, opened it, and got out a beach towel. She spread it quickly, and then got out a wine bottle and two crystal goblets. She poured herself some wine, and poured Foxy some wine as she clinked glasses with him and said, "Let us have a few sips, and then, I am sure you can guess what we will be doing…next…"

"And that is?" Foxy teased.

"If you cannot guess, Foxy, maybe you need more wine," Invidia purred.

Foxy answered Invidia's question by lying her down and beginning to just kiss her. He began playing with her breasts and caressing her all over in the warm sun while they kissed.

Then, as they kissed, Foxy slipped his hand down between Invidia's legs. She did not resist at all as Foxy stroked her womanhood. In fact, she lay back on the towel and moaned softly as Foxy caressed her there…and then, he kissed his way down her breasts, down her stomach…and then down _there_ as Foxy began to give her an initmate, beautiful kiss…which turned into several kisses as Invidia arched her back, moaned, and curled her toes into the beach towel.

Then, Foxy lay beside her, pleasuring her with his hands while Invidia eagerly but tenderly grabbed his manhood and played with him in the sun. Invidia cuddled next to him as he ardently touched her, and before kissing him again, she whispered, "I could stay here like this with you forever! _Forever_!"

"I know," whispered Foxy. "Ohh…I know…" he moaned, trying to hold himself from exploding as he watched Invidia writing with pleasure and joy in his arms. Finally, she shivered against him, exploding in a climax that felt as if it would just kill her….it was so good.

As Invidia lay there mewing and gasping with naked, hot, longing pleasure, Foxy gently pushed her onto her back and took her…his body entering her like a clean, white lightning bolt. He started slowly, but sped up the pace of his dance as they writhed together on the towel, with Invidia crying happy, happy tears that glittered in the bright sunlight as she lay there enjoying the sweet, longing feel of lovemaking with her dear, dear husband.

Finaally, her pleasure increased, and Invidia was sobbing with utter happiness as she screamed, "YES! Foxy! YES! There is no one here to hear, thank Arishna, so MAKE ME SCREAM! Oh, GODDESS! YESSS!" she screamed as they exploded into another world together as Foxy's climax hit, and Invidia's second climax hit.

Then, they both lay there, shivering, crying, and kissing each other as they could not believe the sheer joy they had just shared.

"I love you so much," moaned Foxy as he kissed her all over.

"Yes, husband, yes, Foxy one, yes, my sweet, yes my darling, I love you too," purred Invidia.

"So what do you want to do?" said Foxy as they lay there on the towel caressing each other.

"To do what I vant, we have to go naked all day," whispered Invidia as she kissed him again.

"That's great," said Foxy. "I do not mind. This is…fun…" purred Foxy as he tickled Invidia's stomach.

"Stop that!" she yelled, laughing in such a way that seemed to indicate to Foxy she really wasn't very serious about wanting him to stop….especially as the tickles that she disliked turned into kisses…and the kisses turned into caresses, which went…

…right…down….

**_there….._**

"Oh, GODDESS!" cried Invidia as Foxy got back down to the wonderful business of making her feel as if she had died and gone to Heaven…

And, they went on like that….

…for most of the day….

* * *

Two more days passed for Invidia and Foxy as they ate, made love, played music, talked, made love, swam a little, made love, explored the hot jungle together naked, made love, took pictures, made love, made schemes and plans together, and, again, made love.

On the twenty-third, which was third day of their second honeymoon, late in the afternoon, Invidia surprised Foxy in the shower by Changing in mid-kiss to Katrina while they were playing under the water and making love. Foxy took Invidia again as Katrina (she looked a bit off with the Royal Pin in her hair as Katrina but rather cute), and as they did the deed under the water, she changed back into Invidia again (which looked better to Foxy while she wore the Royal Pin).

Then, when they got done, after Invidia got out and put a towel around herself, she winked at Foxy and said, "I have somehow learned to Change into someone else, too. I would like to show you. It is almost amusing!"

"Who?" said Foxy.

"My little surprise. This just happened by accident one day when you were not home. I did it when I was half-asleep and worrying about her. I scared myself. It was hard to Change back into myself or into Katrina later. I vas afraid I'd get _stuck_ like zis," said Invidia as she put a towel…uncharactersticially, a _pink_ towel… around herself and kissed him. "Now, close your eyes."

Foxy did so, so he didn't see Invidia shimmering as she made her Change yet again into someone else.

Invidia then said, "Now, open your eyes…"

Foxy nearly screamed when he saw whom Invidia had just Changed into.

Standing there, wiggling her toes, in a towel, and, incongrously, a Cometine Royal Pin in her hair…

….was "Nova"!

"What the?" said Foxy.

"It just happened," said the girl who looked like Nova, talking in Invidia's voice, although the accent sounded a little less deep and a little more breathy, sounding somewhat like Nova doing Invidia, or was it Invidia trying to sound like Nova?

"Now, can't exactly change voice, although if I try to talk like she does in zat _ridiculous_ nasal Terran accent," said Invidia while, as "Nova" she wrapped a towel around Foxy's middle and tied it. "This is to soak up the water, Foxy," she said.

"My God, you are _sounding_ like her now," said Foxy, frightened by this new revelation of Invidia's strange ability.

"No. This is too weird," said Invidia in a voice that now sounded about 85% like Nova's.

"And, I _swear_, it was an accident!" Invidia said in Nova's more excitable, girlish tones that did not fit her before she clapped her hands, and shimmered and Changed back into herself.

"Oh, yes….Much…much…better. How does she talk like zat? Surprised to hear she has any damn vocal cords left! Might work someday if I need to disguise myself as her for some ridiculous reason. Of course, just watch. Next thing you know, she pays Trelaina bribe, Trelaina gives _her_ power to do zat, and then, POW, she then walks around disguised as ME! Probably never happen. But the thought of someone else doing zat is scary!"

"I don't want to see Nova doing you. I want to see you doing you," said Foxy.

"I like that. Now, you know that we have not worn much since we got here?"

"Yes?"

"Please step out of the room. I have a special outfit I have intended…just…for…you…" said Invidia. "Just give me a few minutes…"

Foxy kissed her and watched Invidia smiling and licking her lips as she closed the door.

He waited for her for several minutes, tapping his bare foot against the floor, wondering what was taking Invidia so long to get changed.

Finally, she opened the door a crack and said, "All right. You may come in. Now."

Foxy did so…

…and he almost passed out.

Even though it was, granted, for a very, _very_ good and sexy reason.

Invidia had gotten changed.

Boy, had she gotten changed.

The Princess had put on black panties, black platform sandals trimmed near the top of the straps in black lace decorated her bare feet, and her primary garment was a gorgeous black shorty negligee with a pink butterfly near her stomach, with a white rose between her breasts. Her outfit was decorated with a pair of black elbow-length gloves with black lace that matched her sandals, and everything was tied together with a short black cape.

Invidia also wore a black lacy choker trimmed with amytheyst gems, and she just looked….

…spectacular.

"I was saving this for you," said Invidia. "Do you like it?"

"LIKE it?" purred Foxy. "My Goddess, I _love_ it! And I love you in it!"

"I rather thought you would," said Invidia as she steered him towards the living room. She put on some low, sultry jazz music and said, "Dance with me, Foxy."

"In what sense?"

"We will begin with a waltz, and we shall end in the bedroom," purred Invidia. "Of course, by the time we get in the bedroom, I want you to get me onto the bed, and then…"

"Yes?"

"I want you to get me out of these clothes," Invidia purred.

So, they began to waltz…and their dance began in the living room…

…but, it ended up in the bedroom.

And then….

* * *

**V. BAD DREAMS…**

**Earth**

**The Tokyo Megalopolis Region**

**The Wildstar Residence**

**Saturday, May 28, 2208 **

**1645 Hours Local Time**

* * *

Some time passed.

Invidia and Foxy were due to come home from their second honeymoon on the twenty-ninth.

Having a full weekend off, the Wildstars, after seeing Jonathan off for the day for a Junior Space Cadet Corps training exercise, decided to get their bikes and go for a long bike ride with Alex and Ariel from their house in the Tokyo Megalopolis, riding right down the coast to the edge of Yokohama and back. It would be a strenuous ride, but the two of them were in good shape. Carrying plenty of diaper changes, some baby food, some baby wipes, and energy bars and water for themselves, they took off in the early afternoon.

Derek wore an old top, shorts and thong sandals for the sticky heat, while Nova wore an old blouse, blue jeans, and pink thong sandals.

The young couple had fun riding down the coast, sometimes riding on a road near the beach, and sometimes riding on the beach. At least once, when they found a cove, they stopped, laid down towels, got the babies out of their clothes, and then they undressed themselves to take a joyful, naughty, skinny-dip with the babies in the warm water. Then, on towels as they dried out, Nova took advantage of her nakedness to give Alex and Ariel her breasts after she fed them some baby food on her lap.

Then, when the babies went to sleep clad in fresh diapers and sleepers, Derek and Nova made some soft, gentle love on the beach for a few minutes, happily besotted with each other on this sweet, warm , they got dressed and began to get ready to head back. They took their time, so it was a while before they made much progress.

Later, Nova sat in the sun tenderly holding little Alex on her lap as Derek played with baby Ariel.

Derek looked at Nova and said, "You're worried ahout Dawn, aren't you?"

Nova nodded as Alex began to whimper. "How did you ever guess?"

"Well, you got that look on your face you get when you're thinking…and you were discussing checking on Dawn and Jeff when we get back to San Diego next week," Derek said as he played around with the bell on his bike, while thinking it would be a good fifteen-kilometer ride back up the coast to their little cove and their place.

Alex began to scream and Nova said, "It's okay, darling," as she opened her pink blouse and gave Alex her right breast again as he nursed hungrily. It seemed that he wanted more milk maybe two hours after having last been fed. "Ohhh…you poor little baby," Nova cooed as she pushed aside some discarded, torn netting from a fishing boat to sit down on the seawall wiggling her toes in her flip-flops. Derek noticed that she looked very youthful in that outfit with her blue jeans rolled up to near her knees so she could catch the sun. Then, Nova said, "Derek, why is it that Dawn is going back to these high school events? It's really getting Jeff mad at her. I have an idea…but I want to know what you think…"

Derek sat down beside Nova and said, "I think she wants to bring back her teenage years. Agree?"

"Same thing I was thinking," Nova replied. Derek gave Nova's neck a smooch as he said, "Speaking of teenagers, you sort of look like one now…"

"Oh?" Nova said as Derek kicked off one of his own thongs, and played footsie with Nova for a moment, making her giggle as she switched Alex around and she playfully slapped at him and said, "Derek…cool it a little. We're not in that hidden cove that we made love in before. Now we're up here where half of the Yokohama longshoremen can see us!"

"Okay, Nova. But you still look like you're about eighteen right now."

"Why's that?" Nova said.

"You look younger with your hair in a ponytail, and with those rolled-up jeans. All you need is a freaky hat, maybe, or funny sunglasses…"

Nova went, "Hmmm….Derek, the next time we hear from Jeff about Dawn going back to hang around her old high school…."

"Yeah?"

"I think I have to go there disguised as a teenager…to see what she is doing!" Nova said. "You think I could sneak into a dance behind her if I look young enough? What would you suggest?"

"First, lose the baby…"

"That's obvious, Derek…" Nova giggled. "I don't know of a lot of teenage mothers who still go to high school dances. What would you suggest?"

"Well, you must be the envy of other women around you, Nova, because you still look like a kid. Clear face…those dark circles around your eyes from the time that Dawn and Jeff's daughter died and you were working double shifts have gone away…keep your hair in a ponytail when you go, and maybe wear weird sunglasses or something like a music star. Your eyes are so recognizable that I think you'd need to hide them…"

"Okay, Derek…" Nova said. "Sounds like a plan…if I have to do it. Is Ariel hungry?"

"She's not making any hungry noises…"

"Let me have her," Nova sighed as she opened her blouse up all the way and took Ariel. The baby girl suckled at her other breast for a while and then pulled away and went to sleep in her mother's arms. Derek got up, smiled at her, and kissed his little daughter and then kissed Nova as he took her, helping his wife button her blouse back up part of the way until she finished feeding Alex.

Then, they went home.

**

* * *

**

**SOME HOURS LATER: AT 0400 THE NEXT MORNING….**

Nova lay in her bed with Derek on a very unseasonably hot and humid night in her bedroom, tossing and turning as she lay there, naked except for a fundoshi and her own sweat.

She woke up Derek because she lay there in the throes of a nightmare, moaning and crying in her sleep as she grabbed at the sheet and fought off an invisible assailant.

Derek heard her muttering, "Please stop that..please _stop_ doing that to me! I'll do anything….stop hurting Derek…please…"

Nova moaned again, and then her eyes slowly opened, filled with sleep, confusion and rage until she realized she was looking at Derek. Then, she sat up, crawled to his side, hugged him, and just began to cry…as she tore her own fundoshi off and then lay naked in his arms.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked softly.

Nova looked at him and said, "I had a horrible, horrible dream. Someone was torturing me…on the _Argo_…"

"Who?"

"Some enemy soldier who had boarded the ship. He…tore off all of my clothes….and then…I don't want to talk about it any more…just hold me!" Nova screamed as she began to cry at the memory of her nightmare.

She didn't want to tell Derek, but it was a nightmare about being raped.

Derek just held her as she shivered in his arms. She very seldom thought about them, but Nova had survived three close calls with rape in her lifetime; once on Diamond Island in 2200, once at the hands of the Technomugar in that evil castle dungeon and torture chamber on Planet Carufax in 2201, and once at the hands of Lance Stovall in 2204. In all three of those occassions, she had been either partially or totally stripped, touched in a lewd manner, and sexually taunted…but Nova had never actually been penetrated by another man in her life except for, of course, Derek.

Now, sobbing softly,Nova kissed him and made him run his hands down her body so she could be touched _there_. Derek did so and found out that his young wife lay there aroused and trembling…he wondered if the nightmare had done it to her as he pulled Nova into his lap, kissed her, and began to play with her breast as he touched her while she sobbed softly. She kissed Derek back, and her hands went for his manhood (she had gone to bed in her fundoshi while he had gone to bed naked) as she began to touch and caress him.

Many wonderful and sad minutes passed until Nova helped Derek get on top of her and then helped him take her. The young lovers then made love tenderly and softly, going on until the final burst of pleasure came and they were both satiated.

Nova lay on top of Derek, whispering to him, calling him by all sorts of endearments. He asked her, "Did that help make you feel safer?"

"It did, my darling..thank you," Nova whispered as she caressed his cheek. "Do you think we could do it again?"

"If I can get my engine running, I…"

Then, they heard little Alex crying. Nova kissed Derek and ran up out of bed naked to get him.

She came back and lay on the bed a moment later with her son in her arms as she tenderly gave him a breast

"Another interruption to our love life," Derek sighed.

Nova striked Derek's hip as she said, "Yes! But isn't our darling little boy a _cute _interruption?" Nova said as she lay back on the bed naked in the warm night giving him her breast again. "I'm almost going to miss this when they're weaned, Derek. Sometimes…this is kind of fun…"

Derek cuddled up to Nova and played with Alex and then Alex's mother. He felt his son's bottom and then touched Nova's belly button. It was such a sweet scene…

Then, a moment later, they heard more crying.

It was Ariel.

"Oh, no, she's hungry, too," said Nova.

Derek got up, but the crying stopped a little as they heard a door opening and heard footsteps.

"Derek, who's…?"

"Just Jonathan, Nova," said Derek. A moment later, the bedroom door opened, and their adopted son came in, clad in only a _fundoshi_, and smiling a little as he tried to keep his baby sister from rooting at _his_ bare chest as the baby tried to suck at one of his nipples.

"Mom, she's silly," giggled Jonathan. "She thinks I give milk!"

"Jonathan, dear, she's just a tiny baby and doesn't know any better," Nova said. "Put her on my tummy," Nova said. Jonathan crawled into bed between his parents, reassured a little by the warmth of their naked bodies, and he rested his little sister against his mother's free breast as the baby girl latched right on, smelling the milk that was on Nova's breast. Nova embraced her baby girl, and kissed Jonathan as Derek put his arms protectively around her, Jonathan, and his two youngest children. Derek smiled at Nova and at Jonathan, and he kissed Nova and then kissed the back of Jonathan's head as he roughly but tenderly stroked his teenage son's chest.

"I like it here with you guys," Jonathan said.

"God knows you come in here enough when you have nightmares," Nova said softly.

"We know what you've been through with the Rikashans, so we don't mind if you need us, Jon," Derek said gently.

"What about what I went through with Astra?" sobbed Jonathan. "And that crazy priest?"

"That orphanage was a horrible place," Nova said softly. "It would give anyone nightmares." Then, Nova said, "Maybe someday Felicia will be comforting you?"

"Mom…I don't know how serious we are…I…" stammered Jonathan.

"I've seen the way that girl looks at you," Nova said. "I've also seen the way you look at her. It's hard to deny when you're in love," Nova said.

"It would be better if you hold off…you know…," stammered Derek. He and Nova had discussed the facts of life with him already (well, mostly Nova, he was horrible at discussing sex with anyone except Nova…usually in bed with her!) but he had a hard time getting his wishes to him. "How far have you gotten with her? Come on!"

"Uh…first base." said Jonathan. "We've kissed. I mean, the idea of jumping in the sack with her yet…I don't want to be tempted with unseemly thoughts, and…"

"You _do_ think about girls," Nova purred. _That_ made Jonathan blush. Nova had once found that Jonathan had a collection of a few centerfolds, some of girls in swimwear, some of girls in nothing at all. She also knew that he slipped off to his bedroom to do what 95 percent or so of adolescent boys his age did (she had caught him in the act in only his skin once and had made a rapid 180-degree turn out of there, making sure his bedroom door was locked!) so she knew that he most likely had a normal teenage interest in the opposite sex. Jonathan remembered that he thought it was cool that his mother had never yelled at him for what she had glimpsed him doing, or had ever mentioned it except for having his father check the lock on his bedroom door to make sure it worked. A gentle reminder from her to "please lock your bedroom door when you need privacy" was all that was ever said about it.

"Yeah…I think about girls.." said Jonathan.

"Are you and Felicia going steady?" Nova teased.

"MOM!" said Jonathan.

"Novelle, that's enough," said Derek. "He does not need to go through the third degree over this. How would you feel if he began quizzing us about what _we_ were up to before…?"

"Derek!" Nova yelled, blushing herself. "I…better put on a nightie..I…darn it…babies," Nova said as she realized she couldn't go anywhere right now with two babies suckling at her. "I…"

"Jonathan, help me get the covers for your mom," Derek said. Jonathan unfolded the sheet and then Derek covered Nova's nakedness with it. Derek got up, put on a fundoshi, and crawled back into bed, hugging Jonathan as he pulled a cover over the two of them.

A while passed during which the whole family just cuddled. Then, all together, they all went to sleep together, with Nova and Derek hugging each other and hugging their children.

As Derek fell asleep, he thought it was one of the most tranquil scenes of his life, as he lay there…no longer alone at last.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED….. **


	12. Chapter 12

ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE STAR BLAZERS-IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA...

A Postscript to THE NEW COMET- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-Freddo

Thanks to Yuki Wildstar for permission to allow me to use her character Jessica Springer in this chapter.

Also, thanks to Gail Kopetz, Yuki Wildstar, and Ami Meitsu for ideas used in this chapter.

PART TWELVE:

YOU CAN'T GO BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL (PART TWO: HARDY'S RAGE)

I. BACK TO SAN DIEGO

Earth

The San Diego Megalopolis

Space Battleship Argo

Wednesday June 1, 2208

1230 Hours Local Time

The Argo's First Bridge was very quiet this time of the day, with only four present; namely, Stephen Sandor, who was at his post, Nova, who was at hers, Commodore Derek Wildstar, who sat at his post, and IQ-9, who sat at Analysis.

Derek had come aboard the docked ship to check over his logs and reports, and to check on the most recent progress of Steve and Nova's project of reconfiguing the ship's computer systems. Derek had been alone at the house with the babies for about a day, since Nova had been in the Tokyo Megalopolis by herself the previous day, doing similar work for him and for Captain Mark Venture on the Arizona. Nova had just flown her Cosmo Tiger back from Great Island at dawn, where she had gone home, checked on Derek, Jonathan, and the babies, and then took the little ones with her to drop off at day care at the hospital in San Diego, make her rounds, and then change from her nurse's garb to her crew uniform to come back to the Argo.

"How is the computer work going?" Derek asked.

Sandor stood up and saluted. "The hardware upgrades are going well, sir. The new hardware firewalls are up and running at eighty percent efficiency, and we've rebuilt the computer core and have all of the uplinks repaired aagin. The software rewrite is Nova's baby, so I'm going to have her reporting next. But, my job is close to done. If everything goes as planned, I think we can expect a full power-up simulation to be ready to run by July the first."

"That's great news," said Derek. Nova had gotten up next, and as Derek glanced at her, she saluted. Derek was seeing the ghosts of dark circles under her eyes again, and he was getting worried about her health. Are we pushing her too hard? Derek thought. She's done enough work in forty-eight hours that would make most men sick with exhaustion. And I didn't even push her to go back to Japan. She volunteered.

"How is the security rewrite going, Commander Wildstar?" Derek asked.

"That work is seventy-five percent completed, sir," Nova said. "May I go over to Central Control to pull up a full schema of the structure? I can't pull it all up at the radar."

"Permission granted," said Derek.

Nova went over to Central Control at the starboard aft part of the bridge abaft of Eager's vacant post, cleared her throat, and opened a number of screens and looked at a large amount of dials.

Then, she said, pointing at a screen with a with cotton glove she was wearing, "I've rewritten the software firewall so that we have a number of shells of security surrounding different parts of the software structure, somewhat like the shell patterns of electrons in a more complex atom with high atomic weight," Nova said. "I have the core systems and BIOS surrounded with two interlocking security shells, followed by a global shell protecting all of the inner-level systems. Those shells are completed and up on-line now. A feature of these shells is an advanced sort of self-correcting, self-healing code I have written to protect these core systems. The principle is like that written in the DNA and RNA code of a higher organism that allows a cell to, to a certain extent, heal itself. This code is also supposed to be self-healing."

"Which means?"

"The idea is that if the system is attacked again, code modules I have written in the code in fifteen locations will act like antibodies to stop the incursion within nanoseconds," Nova said. "I tried to base the principle upon that of T-cells and leukocyutes in the bloodstream; except that these do not surround biological incursions, but they scan for and catch code incursions, weird checksums, things that don't add up, et cetera," Nova said.

"What do you guys think of this?" Derek said. "Sounds pretty impressive to me."

"It is impressive," said IQ-9. "It's amazing that this sort of work, with the sort of genius more akin to my superior mind than human wetware, can come out of two humans such as Stephen and Nova. Particularly out of the mind of a beautiful woman with Nova with an illogical mind I have never quite grasped."

"Thanks a lot, Tinwit," Nova huffed. "Let us suppose that I was of the male gender, all right? Would you be coming up with that sort of illogical baloney then?"

"I am not illogical!" said IQ-9. "I am a thousand more times logical than you, Nova! You were going on about hair ribbons and your pedicure flying in here with me this morning," said IQ-9.

"That's because discussing systems architecture was getting boring after six hours straight, even with you, IQ," Nova said. "Geez, you have to give a person a chance to rest their mind!"

"What about Scrabble?" demanded IQ-9.

"You cheat at Scrabble," Nova said.

"Why?"

"GIGO is not a word, IQ. It is an acronym," Nova said. Derek looked puzzled so Nova explained, "Ancient computer programming term, dear. It stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out. Feed a computer bad data and you get bad data out of it. We see this principle in your electronic brain, IQ-9. We feed junk into to your mind and you regurgitate junk."

"I am an artist! I am not a dumb machine, Nova! You are a hack!"

"I'm a hack? Derek, do you believe this? He's insulting me!"

"I am merely pointing out the illogic of your wetware, Nova," said IQ-9 as Derek and Sandor both rolled up their eyes at IQ-9's bizarre verbal fencing. To date, Nova had proven to be the only woman that IQ had ever met who could give him a good takedown in an argument. Nova knew how he thought, and she knew which buttons she could push in his brain when the situation called for it. Now, the most bizarre part of this was that the squat little AI and the woman were good friends, in spite of the robot's bizarre "crush" on her. Yet, they could duel in an argument like fencing partners. Sometimes, Derek wondered if IQ was really as much as a "genius" as he claimed to be.

Then, the Comm panel went off. Nova and Derek ran to answer it, and, to their surprise, Doctor Sane's face came up on it. "Doctor?" Nova said as Derek leaned in over her. "Aren't you still at the hospital? What do you need?"

"Yes I am," Sane said. "Captain, with all respect, I need Nova at the hospital in the next two hours for an emergency meeting. Nova, you know Dawn showed up for work, prematurely, after you left?"

"Why?" Nova said. "Doctor, she's still on leave."

"Yes, but...well, she thought she'd be you and check things out early. She got in trouble two hours later with a patient. The business was partially witnessed by our friend Tasha Cleveland and the whole thing was witnessed by a new nurse just transferred down here from Los Angeles known as...Jessica Springer."

"What?" Nova said. "Don't tell me they're putting Springer here at the hospital in San Diego?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Sane said. "Her father, the cosmetic surgeon Doctor Lee Springer, pulled some strings and got her reassigned up here with him," Doctor Sane sighed. He looked hard at Nova and said, "You know she has a reputation, Nova. Maybe she..."

"Yes. LA would suit her far better than San Diego," Nova snapped. "Or maybe she just wants to enjoy the surfing and the nude beaches? And all the cabana boys hanging around?"

"Why are you two talking about this Springer as if she is poison?" said Derek.

"Let Nova tell you," said Sane.

"It's because she is poison," Nova said. "I worked with her for a little while four years ago, Derek, when I was filling in for one of the nursing instructors at Los Angeles Central when you were in space around the time when I had those miserable TDY assignments. Denise was one of the nursing students in the class I was a substitute instructor with. I never forgot her, Derek...even though I wish I could forget her...and Los Angeles. I don't think she ever should have completed nursing school...she...she's unfocused, a gossip-monger extraordinare, and she finds trouble like iron finds an electromagnet. She also has really poor taste. Anyhow, Doctor, I'll be along in a while," Nova sighed. "Let me get my work done here on board ship, and then get into a nurse's uniform again. Talk in a while..okay?"

Sane nodded at Nova and said to Wildstar, "Don't worry, Wildstar. You can have the missus back in a while. Let her figure out this business with Mrs. Hardy, and give me her opinion...and calm down the patient."

"Who's the patient?" Nova said.

"A young woman about to have her baby. Dawn...said things."

Nova breathed a deep sigh. "Doc, knowing Dawn, I think I can figure out what was said already..."

AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER...

After parking her Fiat, Nova Wildstar left the San Diego Central Hospital parking deck and entered the hospital, with her crepe-soled sandals whispering against the polished floors as she entered the hospital, wearing a fresh new set of scrubs intended for her entry to Medical School in a few weeks. Nova had already showed up at some summer orientation classes and seminars at Central Medical School in the Tokyo Megalopolis, so her status and new hospital rank as a Medical Student put her on a somewhat higher strata than the other nurses as she now occupied the world between the ranks of doctor and nurse. Yet, in those times, given the shortages of qualified medical personnel, it was not uncommon to see experienced Medical Students doing summer work and TDYs as charge nurses, Unit Commanders, or even WHO or EDF Assistant Medical Officers right below senior doctors.

Nova rode the lift up to the Maternity Ward she had become quite familiar with in the past few months, and she was greeted by Ensign Jessica Springer, who blew a kiss at her rather than saluting.

God, Nova thought. Nova looked hard at Springer and said, "Miss Springer, I believe you hold the Earth Defense Forces rank of Ensign?"

"Yes, I do," said Springer. "Cute scrubs, ma'am! Like my pedicure? I spent three hours at Max's last nght getting it," said Jessica as she stuck out one of her sandaled feet. Springer had on tights, but they were footless, exposing her bare feet and a lime-green pedicure that matched her eyes. Nova also wore sandals but she simply went bare-legged and wore rather inconspicuous clear nail polish on her toes. "Cute, but we aren't here to discuss your pedicure, Ensign. Number one, I'm a Commander. When you see me, you salute. Number two, I am your charge nurse and one of your section chiefs. When you see me, you are to be ready to answer questions. My first question is; where is Mrs. Hardy?"

Jessica held back a nasty look and saluted Nova belatedly, thinking, She's still one of those. All professional. No sense of fun, probably still a stick in the mud in bed with her husband and a Missionary Position girl. When she sleeps with him, that is. Bitch! Springer than said, "Ma'am, Mrs. Hardy is sitting in the lounge with Doctor Sane and with Miss Cleveland. But I can tell you most everything she said to this lady, who is named Mrs. Gitano. Like to know what she said? Like to know what she's been saying about her behind everyone's back, ma'am? It's great gossip!" giggled Springer.

"I don't recommend penalties based on hearsay evidence, Ensign," Nova said. "Let's hear everyone's side. Including Mrs. Hardy's."

"Yeah, let's hear everyone's side," said Jessica, who thought, Ma'am, this is such bullshit. You know she is as guilty as sin. But what? Trying to cover up for your little friend?

A moment later, Nova and Jessica walked together into the office, where they found Doctor Sane sitting there with his bottle, Dawn sitting with her hands in her lap looking very depressed, and Tasha Cleveland sitting there in a pink uniform, stockings, and sandals, finishing up a cup of coffee.

"This coffee's better than yours, ma'am," said Cleveland as she looked at Nova.

"Very amusing," Nova said tartly. "Doctor Sane, I'm here. What do you want me to do?"

"Nova, sit there at the head of the table, listen, and take notes," said Sane. "Open and then give me the floor."

"Understood," Nova said as she got a yellow legal pad and a pen and began to write fast. "Maternity Ward Section Two professional ethics meeting, 1 June 2208, commenced. Sakezo Sane MD in charge of informal board, Nova Wildstar RN second in charge and opening for Doctor Sane. Who is the highest-ranking floor nurse here?"

Tasha raised her hand before sipping again at her coffee. Nova paused and then said, "Junior Lieutenant Cleveland, please report the basic narrative to Doctor Sane. Doctor Sane, the floor is yours for interrogatories, sir."

Sane nodded once as Cleveland finished her coffee and then turned to them. "The incident happened about three hours ago, at about eleven hundred hours. Mrs. Hardy had returned to work at ten-thirty hours. After being briefed, Mrs. Dawn Hardy was assigned to take vitals from patient Melanie Gitano in Room 305. Mrs. Gitano is expected to deliver in the next forty-eight hours but is here on bedrest because she presented with minor bleeding and spotting, so her pregnancy is somewhat high-risk. Mrs. Gitano is a dependent of a Gunnery Lieutenant known as Lieutenant Dan Gitano, serving on the space destroyer Reuben James, in dock for a minor refit here in San Diego. This is Mrs. Gitano's first child. Scans indicate the child is a girl and close to full-term, Doctor."

"What did Ensign Hardy say to Mrs. Gitano?"

Tasha sighed and said, "I was in the room for a little of it; I was called in by Ensign Springer. From what I heard, Mrs. Gitano was crying, highly agitated, and trying to throw things at Ensign Hardy. Mrs. Hardy was gesticulating and pointing at Mrs. Gitano's stomach beneath her hospital gown, saying, "The way it sounds, you're probably going to lose your baby, the same way I lost one of my twins. Fate and God seem to hate pregnant women these days, lady."

"My God," Nova said as she looked very hard at Dawn.

"Ensign Springer, let's hear your side?" said Doctor Sane.

"I got in there right behind Dawn, carrying the stupid bedpan," sang Jessica. "Dawn was looking at the patient with her gown hitched up behind the privacy curtain, and I was trying to put the bedpan on the bed. The patient was half-naked, and it looked like maybe something nasty was going on in there," giggled Jessica. "She..."

"Was probably about to go the bedpan?" Nova asked. "Not that unusual in a hospital if you are a patient. Mrs. Hardy, were you checking the patient's pending birth area?"

"I was," said Dawn. "I was checking for spotting and bleeding. She asked me if the baby would make it, and I just spoke my mind and said I wasn't sure...I..."

"She told her she'd probably lose the baby and had better buy a coffin," sang Jessica.

""Really?" said Doctor Sane with a high squeak as Nova wrote furiously. "Ensign Hardy...did you really say that?"

"I heard it all so you can't deny it," said Jessica.

"Springer...be quiet!" snapped Doctor Sane. "Mrs. Hardy? Did you say that? Be honest."

Dawn was crying now. She said, "Yes! I said it! I..."

"You admit to patient abuse?" said Doctor Sane.

Dawn nodded her head and began to cry harder and bang the table with her fists. Nova got up, got behind her, and said, "Dawn...please calm down. Thank you for being honest, but..."

"So, I did it all!" said Dawn. "Fire me! Court-martial me! I fucked up!"

"You're World Health Organization, so I can't do that," snapped Doctor Sane. "We will give a report to your commanding officer, though. I feel an appropriate penalty is suspension, and a requirement that you seek counseling before reporting back to work. Nova, what do you recommend?"

Nova sighed and said, "I recommend a twenty-one day suspension, Doctor. I also recommend she sit a Board before being allowed to return to full and regular unsupervised practice. After her suspension, she will serve on a limited student basis until she passes her Board Review. There will also be an ethics review class running this month beginning on the tenth. I recommend that both her and Ensign Springer be recommended to attend this class."

Dawn cried and cried. Finally, Nova looked at her and said, "Mrs. Hardy, please surrender your badge and credentials to me. They'll be held for you until you return. Please go home to Jefferson and David. Don't think about this place for a while. Just rest," Nova said as she got up and patted her on her back. "If you want me to, I'll walk you to your car."

"I don't want you to walk me anywhere, ma'am!" Dawn yelled. She threw her badge and WHO credentials on the table and ran off towards the elevators crying loudly. Dr. Sane picked up Dawn's credentials and said, "Nova?"

"Let me lock those up in my desk in my nurse's station cubicle," Nova sighed, going into the charge nurse's small office/cubicle behind the counter. There, she locked Dawn's badge and items up in her drawer with a note attached that read, Please e-mail World Health Organization Commander Misha Donnelly about Dawn and her problems.

Then, as the meeting broke up, Nova began to compose the e-mail.

HALF AN HOUR LATER...

Commander Misha Donnelly, at thirty-three, was a severe-looking but gentle and professional nurse who ran the World Health Organization nursing contingent assigned to Central Hospital in San Diego.

Misha usually liked to dress in blue; blue dress, blue stockings, but white nurse's cap and sandals. Her computer dinged at her desk, and, with a sigh, the woman adjusted her glasses and looked at the screen, pulling up her e-mail client.

Hmmm, she thought. A message from the EDF Fleet Contingent...Commander Wildstar? Is that the Star Force vet? Donnelly thought. Now what could this be about from EDF? Those people are our professional rivals, so to speak. Well, let's open it, and...

It read as follows:

Commander Donmnelly:

Good afternoon. I'm Commander Nova Wildstar; EDF Reserves, assigned to the 456th upstairs in Maternity at the moment on a part-time basis as I am still on partial family leave (had two babies last September). I see by your time in rank and grade that you are senior to me, so I will refer to you as ma'am. The reason I am writing is because of a mutual colleague, one Ensign Dawn Hardy, on contract right now to the 456th, but we were recently veterans together on the Argo during the War.

I have attached the minutes of a preliminary professional board I co-  
chaired earlier today. Ensign Hardy was found guilty of patient abuse in comments made to a pregnant patient, to make it brief. BTW, this is a second offense on her part over the past few weeks since we know she had an incident during her pregnancy where he had to be Reprimanded.  
I recommended a 21-day suspension followed by a full Board I would ask you to chair. I also recommend various classes that may help the Ensign. I feel the Ensign should be treated severely but that she may be able to become a useful officer. Kindly send your recommendations to myself or Sakezo Sane MD ASAP. Also we may want to rethink her EDF Flight Nurse Contract pendent upon the Board's decision.

Yours, CMDR WILDSTAR, NOVA, RN, LNP, MD Candidate

Donnelly then opened Nova's minutes and read them, biting on her pen as she read how bad it was. When done, Misha thought for a moment as she sat back in her office chair. Dawn Hardy, formely known as Westland, thought Donnelly. She was fairly stable when serving under me, but her prior record and one or two small incidents while she was a student show she has a tendency to go off half-baked at time. I am familiar with her medical record; I know she had some major post-  
partum depression, so I think she showed some horrible judgment in returning to work so early, especially while still so emotionally unstable. I agree with Wildstar that she should be reprimanded, but I don't know about pulling her Flight Nurse contract...yet...unless she shows other examples of not being able to work with others...

Donnelly sighed, put down her pen, and began sending Nova a response via e-mail. It read:

Commander Wildstar:

Best wishes to you and good luck upon your pending entry to Medical School at the end of August.

I am familiar with both Ensign Hardy's service record and recent medical record. She is suffering, as you know, from severe post-partum depression. As we are supposed to police ourselves as health professionals in terms of preparedness and ethics, Ensign Hardy should have known that she was not yet fit to return to duty. And I am aware of her Reprimand, Commander. YOU need not remind me again. I forgive you for the impertinence due to your youth and zeal, though.

I concur with your recommendation for the suspension and will chair the Inquiry Board. I will see to it she is enrolled in the classes you recommend upon her return to duty. However, knowing our personnel situation, I would not be too hasty in pulling her EDF Contract...unless she shows further egregious conduct or severe evidence of instability.

Yours in Fellowship and Harmony,

CMDR DONNELLY, MISHA, RN, LNP, MS, Permanent Supervisory Nurse, WHO

PS-Wildstar, I believe you will make an excellent doctor someday when you survive Medical School, Internship, and Residency. However, remember, that like Caesar of old, thou art mortal, and you shall someday end up leaving this mortal plane like all of us, perhaps with your soul in Heaven, your flesh nourishing the Earth, and your bones in a cabinet in the Medical School with Samantha the Skeleton. In other words, don't be a Cheeky Baby! Take care!

Nova read the e-mail a while later, and she thought, Well, at least I got some of what I wanted. Believe it or not, though, I am worried about Dawn. I hope she's all right...she and David...

II. BACK AT HOME...

Earth

The San Diego Megalopolis

Rio Amarillo Apartments

The Wildstar Townhouse

Wednesday June 1, 2208

1742 Hours Local Time

Back home at Derek and Nova's townhouse, the usual playful chaos ensued in the late afternoon.

Derek was playing with Alex in the lving room (on the floor) and was watching Ariel with amusement. The baby girl was getting more intrepid at nearly nine months of age, and he and Nova had noticed her pulling herself up on her chubby little feet at times, standing, and then wobbily going back on all fours.

Jonathan had just gotten home, and he was watching Ariel with amusement. "Dad, it looks like she's trying to walk."

"It sure does," said Derek with a father's pride as he picked Ariel up and gave her a big kiss. IQ-9 came into the room and he said, "You guys might like this. I borrowed some of your toys, Jonathan, and I'm putting them to a good use...ha ha ha ha ha ha..." he said as he put up his antennas and beeped.

"What are you doing with my stuff?" said Jonathan.

"Puttiing it to a good use, ha ha," he said as a remote-controlled model of a Japanese Zero buzzed into the room, buzzed around their heads, and buzzed back into the bedroom.

"IQ-9, you're not supposed to fly those in the house!" barked Derek. "That's a house rule that Jonathan follows to the letter. Jonathan, where's your mother?"

"Taking a bath, Dad. She said she was stiff all over when she came in. She said she had a bad day at the hospital..."

In the meantime, Nova was trying (and we stress trying) to take a relaxing bath when, suddenly, a toy of the 1944-era Yamato surfaced like a submarine from the bathtub.

It began to cruise around. Nova smiled a little at the toy battleship, expecting that either Derek or Jonathan was controlling the little vessel by radio control from a nearby room of the townhouse. This has to be one of their toys, she thought with amusement. They're not supposed to play with them in the house, but, I bet that soon, one of them will be in here with the R/C unit, grinning their heads off. They're both teenagers at times. Cute, but they drive me out of my mind...

Then, there was a buzzing sound.

Little blue American World War II warplanes flew into the room and began to circle the tub.

One of them dropped a little "bomb" near the Yamato, and Nova screeched as a tiny geyser of water came up and spattered on the edge of the tub.

A moment later, two miniature Japanese fighters appeared from nowhere, and began to "fight" the American planes, shooting tiny, tiny tracers at the tiny Grumman Avengers that were still attacking the little Yamato somewhere near her toes.

"DEREK! JONATHAN!" Nova screamed. "Which one of you guys is messing around with the remote control unit? House rule! We don't play with these toys in the house! Take them outside...and one of you retrieve the Yamato and sail her out in the complex swimming pool! My bathtub is not the East China Sea in April 1945!"

A moment later, IQ-9 came in and said, "Hi, Nova! You're the target of the attack!"

"YOU TINWIT!" she screeched. "I am not Fleet Number Taffy Six! And how are you controlling these little birds, anyway?" she snapped as she grabbed a Zero out of midair in her hand like a giant and held the little R/C plane as it buzzed and trembled in her hand.

"I am using my own radio transmitter. I figured out all of the frequencies! I am ten thousand times more efficient than a human, Nova!" he burbled as he made the Yamato turn all of its gun turrets on Nova and then made it "fire" its miniature Airsoft cannons with a loud POP.

Nova got mad and she shoved the toy Yamato underwater with both hands, just in time to notice Jonathan running in with Derek. Jonathan looked at Nova and said, "Awww...MOM! You sunk my battleship!"

Nova got up holding the Yamato by her bow before shoving it back into the water, while dodging a Grumman and then dodging a Japanese Nakajima in green, and she said, "IQ, QUIT IT! Jonathan! Pick up your toys! Derek! Get me my beach cover-up!"

IQ-9 looked at Nova, who was just glowering at him, and he lowered his antennae and all of the planes and the ship went dead. The Yamato had turned turtle, and she bobbed in the tub upside-  
down as Nova pulled out the plug and began to drain the water. Derek tossed her a towel and her cover-up, and she began to dry off and covered herself with a towel as she threw a roll of toilet paper at IQ-9. The chastened robot said, "Sorry, Nova!"

"Sometimes, you are NOT funny!" Nova said as she went back out into the living room in a huff.

A few minutes later, Nova was on the floor, tickling Ariel as the baby lay there bottomless getting her diaper changed while Alex played in his playpen, clad in just his diaper. "Look at how big she's getting, Derek!" Nova said as she wiped Ariel off, and then watched her stand up on her little bare feet. Ariel looked at her, then said, "Wan' DADDY!"

And, to everyone's shock, glee, and surprise, Ariel took her first steps, and then ran towards her father!

"Ohmigod, she's walking!" yelled Jonathan. "Look!" He ran for a camera, and got a picture of Ariel from behind taking her first few baby steps in just her little t-shirt, todding towards her father with her little tush out until she fell down near his knees as Alex made a loud squeal and watched from the playpen with great interest. The picture of Ariel taking her first steps with a bare bottom would later be considered adorable by her parents, but would be very embarrassing to Ariel herself as she grew up.

"Do you want to try, too?" Nova said as she picked up Alex and put him on the floor. He pulled himself up a little as he watched his sister, who had gotten up again and was running around again. He tried to take a step, but he just fell down and began to cry.

"Poor dear...you can't do that yet," Nova said as she picked up Alex, who said, "Wanna run! Wanna wanna wanna!"

Ariel blew raspberries at Alex and said, "Dummy dopeball!"

"That is not a nice thing to say about your brother!" snapped Derek. He turned to Ariel and said, "Tell him "sorry"!"

"Me sorry, Alexander," said Ariel, who made everyone smile as they caught her first complete sentence.

"IQ-9, do you see this?" said Nova. "These babies are going to be smarter than you, soon."

"I don't think I like that development," said IQ-9.

"Babies grow up, IQ-9," said Derek as Nova played with Ariel while she put a fresh diaper on the baby. "Live with it..."

About thirty-five minutes later, a few townhouses down, Dawn and Jefferson were arguing loudly as David sat on the floor on a towel with nothing on, crying and hungry.

"Dawn, I don't care about your being depressed over being suspended from the hospital," said Jeff. "Right now, David is hungry, and he needs yuh!"

Dawn stalked around in just a sleep shirt as she snapped back, "I'm not a machine, Jeff!"

"You're his mother!" Jefferson yelled back. "And why did you throw the bottles out again?"

"Because I thought I could feed them myself..."

"So why aren't you pullin' up yoah shirt and doin' so right now?"

"Because then I won't have any clothes on and I'll look ugly!" sobbed Dawn.

"For heaven's sakes," said Jeff. "We've got four other mothers with babies around here; namely, Nova, Sasha, Angie Hartcliffe, and ! You can see often one of them out on the beach every day with their kids, nursing them either topless or naked! Routine occurrence!"

"Then, find someone to give him a bottle or a boob, because right NOW I am NOT doing it!" yelled Dawn.

Hardy glared angrily at Dawn as he left.

So, Hardy took off with a crying, screaming, hungry little David in his arms, hoping that he could find another one of the young mothers around to provide milk either from:

a) A bottle of formula...

b) A breast...

It turned out that after he checked Deke and Sasha's place and found they weren't home, Hardy then checked Derek and Nova's place. He found only Jonathan there, who said, "Oh, hi there, Mister Hardy. Are you looking for my mom?"

"Yeah. Where is yoah mom?"  
"Out on the beach with Dad and the two rugrats," Jonathan said teasingly. "She's feeding them milk before dinner...and, incidentially, sunbathing, Is he hungry again ?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah," said Hardy.

"Poor thing. And she's refusing to feed him again?" Jonathan asked quietly.

"How wouldja know...?"

"Everyone around here hears her screaming," sighed Jonathan. "And the last time my mother had to do what she said "she can learn to do for herself" she was the closest to cursing a blue streak I...Oh, go see my Mom. She'll help ya. She knows Dawn's attitude ain't your fault, Mister Hardy, sir."

"Thanks, Huck Finn," teased Jeff, unaware that Jonathan had been bugging his parents to take him to Hannibal, Missouri at some point, and also unaware than Derek and Nova had just made reservations for a weekend hotel trip to Missouri that would happen in mid-July.

So, Hardy went down on the beach. It didn't take him long to find Nova. She was sitting on a beach towel, tickling her own daughter as Derek sat beside her in a fundoshi rubbing tanning oil on Nova's back.

Hardy noticed that Alex wore a diaper, Derek wore a fundoshi...

...and that both Ariel and Nova just went naked in the humidity, where it was over one hundred degrees Fahernheit in the sun. Nova turned to Hardy and said, "Oh! Hi!" as she sat there offering Ariel one of her breasts in the sun. The baby girl giggled, took her mother's right breast, and then began to nurse.

"Did I catch you at a bad time, ma'am?" Hardy said.

"No, not at all," said Nova as she shushed Derek and then heard David's whimpers and cries. "Is he hungry?"

"He is...and Dawn's not wantin' to..."

"Ohhhh.. give him to me for a minute," Nova sighed. Then, she talked to David and cooed, "Are you hungry again, little one? Hmmm? Do you want milkie?"

"Nova, I..." began Derek.

"Derek, he's hungry. I can't blame Jeff for this," she said as she lay back on the towel and offered her naked breast to David. David latched right on, and sucked hungrily as tears came to Nova's eyes. "Yes, he's hungry, all right. Poor thing. What's Dawn's problem this time, Jeff? What's her excuse for not being a mother to her child and coming out to sit out here in the sun with me with him? This had better be a good one. No offense to you, but neither Sasha nor I are on retainer as David's wet nurse."

"Nova, you know, she's just being..."

"Unreasonable?" Nova said carefully, even though that was not the first thing that came to her mind. The first thing that came to her mind was the thought, She's being an adolescent little bitch again? Nova sat up, kicked her bare feet into her flip-flops, and threw her gauze minidress coverup on over her shoulders and said as she clothed herself the best she possibly could with two babies nursing at her breasts, "Well, let's take him home. I'm going to give Dawn another nursing lesson, and she'd better damn well listen to me this time," Nova said. "Or..."

"Or what?"

Nova looked at Derek and nodded. Then, she said, "I'd rather not get into that, Jeff," knowing that she might have to report Dawn for neglect if this continued. Nova stopped walking and looked at Derek. She grabbed at his fundoshi with a free hand as she said, "Derek, sorry, but this is ready to fall off you. Let me get it fixed. There...much better," Nova said. "Maybe I should have worn mine out here, but I thought I'd have enough time to throw on my cover-up if anyone came around..." Finally, they got to Dawn and Hardy's place. In their spare bedroom, a few minutes later, Dawn reluctantly sat naked on the bed on a baby blanket with little David. Nova sat beside her, again nude herself as she fed Ariel and gently watched Dawn nursing her little son and again offered tips on how to hold him, latch him on, and even on how to caress and tickle him as he fed basking in his mother's bare warmth, gently using her own exposed body and breasts as examples.

"How am I getting on with him now?" Dawn asked, needing reassurance at her mothering techniques.

"You're doing just fine, Dawn," Nova said. Despite their past quarrels, Dawn liked receiving mothering tips from Nova because there was something about her that seemed to be a calming influence on every baby she held, bathed, or cared for. Dawn could see that even in the past, when Nova had been angered at her, she had simply been trying to get her to face up to her responsibilties as a mother. "Just adjust him a little on your nipple...he might irritate it in that position." Nova then looked at Dawn's other breast. "When you get done, keep your shirt off and just go outside in just your shorts and flip-flops or just wear a swimsuit bottom or stay naked. The sun on your bare breasts will toughen the nipples up a bit to make this easier, and when the baby is bare, I like to be bare too, especially when it's this hot.." Then, David cooed, kicked, and then Dawn squealed as he went wee all over her stomach, breasts, and bare thighs. Dawn laughed. "This is why you recommend going naked when he's nakee, right?"

Nova nodded. "Uh-huh," she said as she got a cool rag from out of the bathroom. Nova then squealed herself as Ariel suddenly decided she had to pee all over her mother. She laughed and used another rag to clean herself and Ariel without even breaking stride or taking the baby away from her breast and Nova said, "If baby doesn't have anything on and he does, this, you see that cleaning yourself up is very easy if you're undressed, too." Nova then looked at David and said, "Does he have a shirt on him that much?"

"No," Dawn said. "Is that okay? Also, he has no socks and maybe just two pairs of sandals for dressup. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Nova said. "Lately, in this hot weather, I just take Alex and Ariel out in only their diapers and shirts or onesies. They have a lot of nice little shorts and skirts, but lately, except for church, I don't even bother putting them on them. Some days, I put them in nothing but sunsuits...and some days, I don't clothe them in shirts, either. In fact, that one really hot day we had...I put them in their baby carrier pack on towels in nothing at all but sun hats!"

"Awww...that sounds so cute," Dawn said. "And what did you have on, Nova?"

"Flip-flops...an Aussie-style hat, a very small fundoshi, and my smallest and lightest bikini top." Nova said. "Derek's eyes nearly popped out when he saw me stripped down that far in the park when we met for lunch. Of course, when the kids wanted dinner, we all matched for a bit in the park," Nova said with a blush. Then she said, "Derek has come to...like it when I undress to feed them. How does Jeff feel about it?

Dawn said, "He used to get weird about it, but, the other day, he was so kind and helpful when he helped to undress me out of my sundress and Roman sandals." Dawn then looked around and whispered, "We did it in our backyard; I made him undress me all the way and then when David was asleep, we made love right afterwards. Was that weird?"

Nova shook her head. "That is a good sign. Sometimes, lately, we're both so busy, that the only time Derek and I have for each other is right after a baby feed. It's a good time since I usually have little or nothing on then anyway...I...okay...I confess. I almost always feed them in the nude now in this heat," Nova said. "Especially when they both want both of these at once," Nova said, as she pointed to her breasts and laughed.

"You think Hardy would go as gaga over me as Derek does with you if I got tan all over like that?" Dawn said.

"I can't guarantee it, but it would help," Nova said. Then, she said, "Did you want to practice some old cheerleading moves on the beach again like you were talikng about? Remember, you and I are supposed to be appearing with our old squads at the Pan-Am University versus Colorado exhibition football halftime shows in a few days...on Saturday, as a matter of fact."

"Okay," said Dawn as Nova pulled her coverup on over herself after she burped Ariel. The little white and pink garment was about the length of a cheerleaders' dress on Nova. "Let me get them home and get my pom-poms, sunglasses, and the shoes I'll be wearing. Didn't your squad wear a two-piece?"

Dawn nodded. "I don't have it back, but I'll put a bikini on. We didn't ever wear shoes since we always did our cheerleading barefoot. Did you guys have to wear sneakers?" Dawn said with her eyes rolled up.

Nova gave her a look and said, "No, we wore flat sandals, although sometimes, we'd also go barefoot for forming pyramids. See you in a few minutes."

When Nova came back after tucking Ariel in for her nap. She had on pink sunglasses, white sandals, and carried her pom-poms. Dawn had on her pink bikini.

Together, the young women ran out to the beach and began to practice their cheers and dance routines...then they began to practice singing some songs, such as I'm Still Standing, Nowhere Fast, My Angel Put The Devil In Me, and other numbers they would be working on.

Sasha ran out on the beach a while later with Deke and Star and watched them with an amused look on her face. She said, "Auntie, you look great. Dawn, half your dance steps are out of step! Do you really know how to cheerlead?" she mocked.

"I've been doing this for longer than you!" Dawn yelled back.

"Yeah?" said Sasha.

"Yeah," said Deke, taking up Dawn's side for once, which flabbergasted Sasha. "Deekee, she's awful! She couldn't have been..."

"She was cheerleading before you were born, Sasha. She was picked to be a Cheerleader at Rancho Carne high in May 2200..."

"While we were on our way home from Iscandar," Nova commented. "At a point on the mission where I was not thinking very much about cheerleading."

"I remember watching you come home on video that day," Dawn mused. "I was surprised at how young you and many of the others looked..."

"Yeah," said Deke. "Remember what I said that day, Dawn?" he said, freezing Sashan out of the conversation for a moment.

"What?"

"I said our future depended upon a bunch of college kids, by the looks of them. Turns out I was not that far from the truth?" said Deke as he sat down on the sand and began to drum with his sticks.

"You weren't that far from the truth," Nova said, remembering how her relationship with Derek had blossomed then, remembering the Gamilons' last atatck upon the Argo, remembering how she had felt when she had turned on the Cosmo-DNA, thinking, And if I hadn't done that, none of us would be here now, she thought as she smiled at Sasha.

Deke and Dawn whispered an old private joke to each other, and began to snort giggles as Sasha said to Nova in a low voice, "They've been doing that more often now, Auntie..."

"Doing what?" Nova said as she sat on the beach messing around with one of her pom-poms.

"Fraternizing with each other and remembering high school," grunted Sasha. "They've not been kissing or messing around or anything. I'd be giving Deke a headache if they did that. They've just been mentally going back to high school. That is not helping Dawn one bit, Nova. She is supposed to be learning how to mother her baby right now. But what is she doing? Listen to them a minute..."

Nova nodded and listened to Deke and Dawn as they recalled a story from their childhood.

"Remember back in 2193, Dawn?" said Deke. "That time at our old place?"

Dawn nodded and said, "As I heard my father saying, "I'm shocked by this development..."

"Then," said Deke. "Your mother Lynn said...'C'mon, Cal...the way he's been ogling her ever since she got her bangs frosted, don't tell me you didn't see this coming?"

And then your mother Jess said, "Yes...Not to mention how long they've been playing 'house' together?" Deke paused while Sasha glared at them and Nova looked on with some interest, saying, "I sort of remember your father Cal, Dawn...he..."

Dawn said, "I heard Dad saying about me, 'She's too young to have a boyfriend, Lynn...'

At that, Lynn herself came out onto the beach in a pink swimsuit and sandals and she looked at Dawn and said, "Recalling ancient history?"

"Yeah," said Deke. "That time we were playing house?"

"Yes, I sure remember that," sighed Lynn. "All too many times, you two were found playing house..."

"How old were those two then?" demanded Sasha.

"Ten or so," said Lynn. "Ancient history, Sasha. No need to get jealous..."

"No need to get jealous, and she's hanging around her old high school again?" said Sasha.

"Why are you doing that?" asked Lynn. "You're grown up, Dawn...you have responsibilities..."

"Can't I think about the past?" Dawn whined. "My thing with Deke...oh, I wish..."

Lynn said, "I remember saying about you two, 'Cal, it's puppy love. They probably don't even know there's a difference between them.'"

"Did they know there was a difference?" Nova said. "I remember being that age, and briefly thinking my cousin Samuel was the Prince who would sweep in from out of the clouds and take me on adventures...of course, that ended up being someone else," Nova said as she looked back at Derek, who came up carrying Ariel, freshly dressed in a nice sunsuit and sunhat.

"As we were saying, Nova?" said Deke, who was sort of reminscing about this old trip back into Memory Lane himself (as he hugged Sasha and Star, trying to assure them they were not frozen out).

"We were saying, Lynn, about what you guys thought about Dawn and I?"

"Oh, yes," said Lynn Westland. "I remember, Deke, that your mother Jess said, "Well, actually they do know about the difference between boys and girls. They were playing house last year when I walked in on them and found them playing 'show and tell''"

"You two sound like you were really bad," said Derek Wildstar. "And when was 'last year', Mrs. Westland?" he asked.

"I said, Derek, call me 'Lynn'," Lynn said. Dawn's mother turned back to them and said, "Last year, as I told my late husband Cal and Deke's father Alex, was back in 2192...I remember Cal saying, 'Last Year...'" Then, I remember your mother Jess, Deke, saying, 'Yeeeah, but if it's any consolation, I don't think they've realized that peg A fits in slot B yet.'"

"Actually, we did," said Dawn with a big, toothy grin. "You terrible little girl," said Lynn as she grabbed Dawn's ear under her hair and tweaked it. "Did you ever?"

"No comment," said Dawn, looking at Deke a certain way while remembeing that she had lost her virginity with him back in high school...when they did know how to put peg A into slot B.

Lynn then continued with, "I remember telling everyone, 'Well, at least we don't have to worry about them going out on car dates anytime soon, right?' Then," said Lynn, "It happened. About that time, the door swung open and there was Deke and Dawn, sitting (tandem - front to back) in his solar powered toy AstroStang. Deke was wearing his flight jacket, and was sporting sunglasses, with a candy cigarette in the corner of his mouth. He looked at Jess, and said, 'Hey Mom. Dawn and me are gonna cruise down to the Gedunk for a soda. I'll have her back by supper time, Mr Westland.'"

"Oh, my God," said Nova with a laugh. "Sasha, this is so cute!"

"It makes me want to vomit," Sasha muttered as she looked at Deke and Dawn through narrowed eyes. She looked at Lynn Westland, and said, "Then, Mrs. Westland, what else happened with these two lovebirds?"

"Well," said Lynn. "Before we could say anything, Deke flipped on a disk player, a tune akin to the Peter Gunn Theme began to play, heavy on the bass guitar notes, and they zoomed off out into the corridor, with Dawn letting out a 'Wheeee!'"

"That sounds funny," Nova laughed.

Lynn added, "I remember Cal looking back at Jess and saying, 'That was my daughter in the back seat of your son's sports car.'"

"Then what happened, Mom?" laughed Dawn as she smiled at Deke. The big, toothy grin was back, and Sasha felt very umcomfortably seeing that.

Lynn said, "Well, Jess Wakefield said, 'Yeah, but...'Then, Cal said to me: 'You better not tell me, Lynn that boy has an erector set I don't know about.'"

"What kind of toys did you have?" said Sasha, deciding to chime in the hopes of embarrassing Deke so that he'd drop this stupid conversation, and quit hanging around stupid Dawn.

"I had a Tinker Toy set," said Deke.

"At which time," said Lynn, "I said, 'Greeeat...just what he needs to know...how to put pegs into slots...'"

Nova then looked at Derek, rolled up her eyes, and said, "Tinker Toy sets. Derek, this is getting sort of thick out here..."

"Yeah," said Deke. "Like the humidity..."

III. CHAOTIC MEMORIES

Lynn Westland's Apartment

San Diego Megalopolis

Rio Amarillo Apartment Complex

June 2, 2208 1505 Hours

"Hard to believe I'm back here again banging on drums with you," said Deke Wakefield as he looked at Dawn. Lynn rolled up her eyes as both Dawn and Deke were practicing their cadences on electronic practice pads on the floor. She was dressed for the weather; Lynn wore a light pink blouse, black skirt, and black sandals.

Dawn looked a little better to Deke; she was playing with her son David, who was just over a month old. Given the sticky heat, little David wore only his diaper. Deke, in his t-shirt and baggies, looked over at Dawn and asked, "Why do you still have that on?"

"Have what on?" said Dawn, who was barefoot, in shorts, and in a button-down shirt that she was in the midst of closing up because she had just been nursing David a little. However, over all, she still wore her Rancho Carne High School Letterman's Jacket with her cheerleader's letter, with her name "Dawn" written on one breast of the jacket.

"Your high school jacket," said Deke. "I don't even have mine anymore," he said. Deke addressed the assembly sitting around on couches or the floor drinking either soft drinks or beer in Lynn's living room, and said, "Which one of you guys still has anything even left over from high school?"

Nova, sitting barefoot beside Derek in that funny pink hot pants and top jumpsuit she liked, said, "I still have my old yearbook. Lost everything else in the bombings and moves, sadly."

"My high school, for what it was worth, sucked," snapped Derek Wildstar angrily as he let his son Alex crawl on his denim cutoffs and into his lap, pulling at his muscle shirt as he said, "No, Alex...you gotta go to Mom for that! NOT ME!"

Dawn somehow thought that the Cowboy of Outer Space looked a little like a deranged hippie with his hair in his eyes (like Jeff's; I wish he'd get back from the airbase already) she thought as she heard Nova grabbing up Alex and letting down her zipper as she offered her son one of those pretty, firm, lightly suntanned boobs that looked to Dawn like an impossible act of nature. Alex began to slurp away at his mother as Dawn said, "Sasha...do you have anything from high school?"

"Never went," Sasha shrugged as she bounced Star around in her lap; Deke's beloved was dressed in only a very scanty string bikini. "Mother and Earth books taught me so many of the things I had to...EXCUSE ME!" yelled Sasha as Star began to scream as she pulled at her mother's bikini top...hard. "OUCH!" Sasha yelled as, a moment later, Star grabbed her breast and then simply pulled off her mother's top in her zeal to get at some milk. "okay, okay," Sasha said, blushing a little after her daughter made her topless.

"She's funny," said Deke.

"You're worse when you want me out of my tiger-skinned bikini every year," said Sasha.

"Funny how most of us, Derek and Sasha and the babies excepted, had our paths crossing in the...," began Lynn. A knock came at the door, and a youngish-looking nurse with dark brown hair came in, kicking off her sandals at the door. "Hi, Mrs. Westland?" she said.

"Natalie!" Nova yelled, laughing as she got up and hugged her old friend. "How are you? Glad you could make it!"

"Who's she?" Sasha asked.

"Natalie Fisher, Nova's old college roommate, partner in crime, and bridesmaid at our wedding," Derek said.

"Nice to see you!" cried Lynn as she laughed and gave Natalie a hug. "Our paths have crossed before, Derek...Sasha...she and Nova were in this place a few times when they were little..."

"Where do you work at?" Sasha asked.

"She works with me at Central Hospital, San Diego," Nova said.

Natalie added, "I'm finally engaged, too. More on that later. Mrs. Westland?"

Lynn stood up, smoothing down her black skirt as she did so, and said, "Okay...excepting the Commodore and Sasha, me, you, Natalie, Nova, Deke, and Dawn were all in this room together a few times. How well do you remember that?" said Lynn.

Deke said, "Well, Nova tells me that once she was playing with me in the sandbox; when she was about eight when she was in San Diego, and I...went pee all over her. I don't remember that!"

"I do," Nova said. "After you made your mess, I brought you in, and Lynn asked me to just undress, put my sundress in the washer, and I'd give you a bath. I did that, and then..I don't remember what I did next..."

"I do," said Lynn. "And I have proof," she said as she opened up an old photo album and handed Derek a picture. "The love of your life at eight and a half with Deke and my late husband Cal on a very hot day."

Derek smiled at the picture, and began to laugh. It had been taken on a swing at the playground near the edge of the beach. Cal Westland was in the background, in baggies, with one hand on little Nova's bare knee and the other on Deke's shoulder. Beside him, stroking Nova's cheek, was Karl Forrester, her father, in an old t-shirt and a pair of ridiculous-looking striped swim trunks. Deke wore nothing at all and was very obviously a boy. Nova wore only a sun hat and a goofy smile as she held Deke in her lap on one side and the sand bucket they had been using at the beach on the other side

Nova grabbed the picture out of Derek's hand and bopped him on the head with it as Alex chose that moment to let go of Nova's breast and to begin playing with it. "No, no, no, no, no, no, Alexander...find something else to play with!" Nova said as the others laughed good-naturedly at her predicament. "Okay, Derek, pass it around...it's not much worse than the way I look now..."

"Is he still hungry?" Derek asked.

"I don't know," Nova replied. "Don't think so...he's feeding less and less now," she said as she closed her outfit back up after Alex seemed to lose interest in his food and drink supply.

"Which is good," Lynn said. "He seems to be weaning himself..."

"I know," Nova replied. "Lynn, any other embarrassing stories about us?"

"There was the time, a year later, when you and Natalie were in town again and you tried to teach Deke and Dawn how to play Monopoly."

"Yeah, that," Nova huffed.

"I remember!" said Dawn. "I needed a memory jog, but I remember throwing Deke's Starventura doll at your head! You big kids were messing with our playing house! And I remember you cheated, Nova!"

"Did not," she sid

"And I remember hitting you with my sticks," said Deke as he drew close to Dawn, just remembering. Sasha, still nearly naked, gave Deke a very black look as he and Dawn began to tap drumsticks and play a cadence against each other's sticks. Not far away, Natalie began to slap out a rhythm against both Derek and Nova's shoulders. Derek wanted to tell Natalie to stop it, but Nova was going right along with it, slapping her knee. Then, she got up, put Alex in his portable playpen beside Ariel, and looked at Sasha. "May I?" she said as she looked at an alligator-skinned case on the floor near Sasha.

Sasha nodded, and Nova opened the case, got out an alto sax, and began playing some kind of goofy run around the cadence.

"Yeah, all we need now is a color guard," Derek said.

"How did the Rancho Carne song go again?" asked Deke.

"I'll remember in a minute," said Dawn brightly.

"I hope you don't," Sasha snapped as Star still nursed. What do I have to do, Dekee? Sasha thought. Take off my bottoms in Mrs. Westland's living room to get you to notice me? This is ridiculous! You and this high school stuff with Dawn, Deekee! GRRR!

Then, the phone went off. Lynn picked up and said, "Derek, it's for you...it's Hardy..."

Commodore Wildstar picked up the phone and said, "Yes? Hi, Hardy...I...oh...Sandor got orders? And so did you? And my orders are sealed? Roger that...," Derek said. "We're needed at the base when? Okay, that'll give us two hours...we'll make the arrangements...yes, I know Dawn will be staying home. She's on...you know..right. See you soon. Out."

Derek hung up and said, "Nova, we have to leave. We have to be at the airbase in the next few hours. Good thing Jonathan just finished the school year...he'll need to watch the kids." Derek then turned to Sasha. "Are you still on maternity leave?"

"Yessir," said Sasha.

"Okay, you can stay with Star and maybe help Jonathan out if he needs it. Let's get the kids home..."

"What is it, if I can ask?" Lynn said as Nova gave Derek a very worried look.

"Short-term reactivation of the Argo; can't say any more," Derek said. "Nova, you're also wanted at the airbase...that's why I said Jonathan had to look after the kids with Ms. Eloise. We have to be there by seventeen hundred. Deke, get ready for some flying tonight; one squadron of the Tigers has been called up..."

"Gotcha," said Deke, who kissed Sasha and Star goodbye after he helped Sasha get decent. He wondered what was going on that the Argo had to be reactivated at such short notice...and he wondered what they would be doing...

IV...A LITTLE BIT OF FLYING

Earth

The Pacific Ocean

Off the Coast of the San Diego Megalopolis

Space Battleship Argo

Friday June 3, 2208

0910 Hours Local Time

It was supposed to be a sudden test mission...it turned out to be one which, however, turned very strange.

The Argo had slipped her moorings under sealed orders at about 2000 Hours the previous night with only twelve fighter planes aboard her, in one of the upper flight bays, and she was now cruising along slowly on the surface of the Pacific Ocean like an ordinary sea-going battlewagon, maybe a hundred kilometers away from San Diego.

While the ship was not yet supposed to be space-worthy, the EDF Command wanted a test of the computers under simulated combat conditions. However, Derek, Steve, and Nova made sure that there was enough security on the computers and that enough was working so that the space battleship could be launched and put into action at a moment's notice if needed. Such were the sealed orders that Wildstar had received the previous night. He wondered what sort of intel they had received.

At the moment, there was only a skeleton crew aboard her; maybe just seventy persons; enough to man the First Bridge, the Engine Room, the three Main Gun Turrets, the Wave Motion Gun firing room, the starboard side upper flight bay, and a little bit of Sickbay.

Jefferson Hardy had flown aboard his Cosmo Tiger II Astrofighter the previous night, along with Deke Wakefield, Brew, Bangs, both Clive and Angie Hartcliffe (who were supposed to get married later this month), and four other pilots. Finally, two Super Star Fighters had landed behind the ten Tigers. One was flown by the Skipper, and the other, a brand-new one, was flown by Nova and assigned to her. Word had it that Nova's new bird had some sort of special recon sensor packet built into it; its purpose as of yet unknown to anyone except the Captain and Nova, who were not talking to anyone about the new ship.

Now, as the Argo cruised along in the water, the Scuttlebutt Express was really going in the morning as Hardy walked around his Tiger, making a pre-flight checkout.

While walking around, Jeff noticed a lot of activity around Nova's shiny new Super Star. He found that the Commander was seated in the cockpit, sans helmet, making some moves with the control stick and looking at a few readouts in the cockpit that not even Hardy recognized when he went up on a maintenace ladder to talk to her.

"What's goin' on?" asked Hardy.

"They're checking her out," Nova said quietly. Jefferson then noticed Sandor, Derek himself, Frank Carmody, and two other men he didn't recognize working on what looked like a sensor pod slung under the midsection of the Super Star. He heard Wildstar's voice saying, "Do you have sync with the main computer and command frequencies?"

"We do, Wildstar," Sandor said. "We're going to have some of the results beamed back to the ship; while other bits of the telemetry stream are going right to EDF Headquarters..."

"What about the duplicate, encrypted stream to ISO?" said someone with a very deep, authoritative voice crawling around under the Super Star with a white labcoat on.

"Doc," said a much younger voice, whom, as Hardy discovered, was attached to a young bearded man with long hair, "If I told you once, I told you a thousand times, sir...Rockwell International shipped this item out of the factory with that duplicate stream set up and ready to go. Specific orders...and very strange ones...they..."

"Good," said the man with the authoritative voice. "I see my orders were carried out to a "T". You and Carmody don't need to be questioned any further, then, Kantalkos. When we take off again, I want the young Commander here to scan the San Diego coastline very thoroughly in that test flight."

Hardy noticed the man getting out from under the plane; everyone there seemed to be impressed by him except for Wildstar and Sandor. The civilian didn't look that out of the ordinary; he looked to be Sandor's age, wore glasses, had somewhat longish hair, a moustache, and he wore a very nicely tailored suit under his lab coat.

"If I can ask," said Hardy as he looked at Commodore Wildstar. "Who are these three civilians crawlin' around my flight bay?"

Derek nodded and said, "You already know Frank Carmody; he's the chief liasion engineer with both Rockwell International and Contrail Enterprises, and has been working with us on the computer upgrades. This young man is his assistant from Rockwell, Kyle Kantalkos. The last man here is a scientist from the paramilitary International Scientific Organization, Doctor James B. Anderson."

Doctor Anderson said, "I know that my presence here is something of a shock to you, but we're testing a new type of experimental sensor pod that may eventually be fitted to more planes or ships in the Fleet someday...maybe even a special light anti-insurgent vessel that I'm designing in my head as we speak. This one is a specialized bio-research pod, and our young lady here has been chosen to test this device because she's one of the few people I could find in Earth Defense with both a degree in Biology and a punched-up, current fighter/recon pilot's license."

"The thing with machinery," said Sandor as he looked at Anderson, "...is that it's a two-edged sword. We have machines...they do many good things for us. We have to be sure, though, that the technology we create remains in our hands, under our control, and that we don't let it control us," he said.

"Let's go up to the upper radar control room to discuss this," said Derek as he adjusted his Captain's hat. "Nova, finish your checkout...but you have the conn until Steve and I get back. Get these people ready to go in thirty minutes!"

"Yessir," Nova said as she saluted while sitting in the cockpit. Then, she said, "EVERYONE! You heard the Captain! Finish your checkouts and get ready to brief in thirty minutes! We're here to do some flying, people! Got that?"

Wildstar, Sandor, and Anderson went up into the upper flght bay control room as Sandor looked over a few instruments. Derek sat down and opened his peacoat, exposing a dark-blue t-shirt and his ascot beneath his Captain's hat. "As you were saying, Sandor?" Derek said.

"We were talking about technology," said Sandor.

"Yes. Technology can be our servant...you're right," said Anderson. "But there's times when we have to stretch the envelope a bit. One of my specialities is anti-terrorist strategy. I have a sense that with this Spectra bunch, that we all have to think outside the box a bit. I wonder at times if we can hold them back with a fleet...or even your ship...particularly since we have to worry about the Bolars, the R'Khell, and about your mad friend Ekogaru."

"So what are you thinking?" said Wildstar as he looked at Anderson. "Are you telling me that we're guinea pigs for your private damn...?"

"Not at all; it's supposed to be for your benefit as well as ISO's. After all, you do get to keep the sensor pod prototype...we just need the data on what we pick up with it," said Anderson, who didn't want to tell Wildstar that he was actually financing part of the development of his planned project himself. Anderson was a very wealthy man; he was so wealthy that he actually had a bit more money than Kazuo Foxworth-Savela. Sandor had almost as much as he had, though, owing to the royalties that Steve had received on his many patents. He had just let Diane know that when they got married in early August, she would be marrying into quite a bit of money. Steve had been pleased to see that Diane had little reaction to this; she was obviously not after his money like some other passing girlfriends he had dated.

"All right," said Derek as he stared hard at Anderson for a moment. "Steve, you, Nova and I know that with the intel we received this morning, that these test flights might lead to actual people being killed in actual battles if the bad guys show up like we think they might. We had better not be shedding our blood just to benefit your private schemes! Are we clear on that?" Wildstar snapped.

"We are," said Anderson. "Abundantly clear, sir," he said as Derek stood up and shrugged off his peacoat after taking off his cap and throwing it across the room. "Commodore, what are you doing?"

Derek grabbed his regular Star Force white shirt and pulled it on, followed by a pair of spacer's gloves. "Getting ready to fly a mission with my crew, what the hell does it look like?" he snapped. He put on a helmet, tapped at the lip mike, and said, "Nova, make sure the techs have my plane up and ready to fly in forty. You're going to be one of my wingmen...Clive Hartcliffe will be my other wingman. Got that?"

"Roger," Nova said in his headset. "Just got my helmet on, by the way."

"Good." Derek turned to Sandor and said, "When I leave, you've got the conn. You know what we're doing next..."

"Yessir," said Sandor.

Anderson scratched his moustache as Wildstar and Sandor left. I hope I can get the military to think my way about my project, he thought. It looks like we have two regular wars brewing and one unconventional war. My project, is for the unconventional war. You guys have the conventional war...and all the luck in the world to you...

AN HOUR LATER...

Commodore Wildstar was out leading the single squadron of the Black Tigers that had blasted off bit by bit by way of the aft catapult on the Argo.

Nova, as one of his wingmen, flew to his right. Clive Hartcliffe flew to his left in a Cosmo Tiger II. Hardy flew behind them leading another flight. Wakefield flew behind him leading the third flight, and the final flight was led by Brew.

Derek looked at his radar, and then he looked thorugh his cockpit, and gave a thumbs-up to Nova, and then to Clive Hartcliffe. Wildstar was pleased to see that the supplemental training Nova had been through some years ago had remained in her head; with some recent practice under her belt, she flew a Super Star surprisingly well, while Clive Hartcliffe flew fast and hard but professionally, in a fashion that was minus his dead cousin Bryan's insane hot-dogging and showing off.

Commodore Wildstar then said, "Nova, how's the sensor pack working?"

"Well, we're fifty kilometers away from the San Diego coastline, and I'm picking up concentrations of people on the beach. It must be pretty hot out today; the beaches are full of people," Nova said.

"Sounds good...how much data are you getting?"

"Lots," Nova said. "I'm getting more and more data the closer we get to the coast, and..."

Suddenly, Nova cut off, since something was pinging in her cockpit.

"What is it?" asked Derek. "I hear something at your end but I'm not getting anything yet..."

"Derek, are there supposed to be other ships flying in the area today?" Nova asked as their ships touched the edge of space; the sky outside was turning a dark indigo shade.

"No," he said. "Why is that?"

"I've picked up something up above us at one hundred and fifty thousand meters and diving fast. It's something large and..." Nova ran a scan and picked up some blurred but important life sign data. "I'm picking up that the ship above us is crewed by people with a body temperature two degrees above average baseline, Derek! ALIENS!"

"Hartcliffe, are you getting that?" demanded Wildstar.

"Roger that, I'm also picking up the object..."

"Object above us is launching smaller craft!" said Hardy as he burst in on the conversation. "Ten objects launched off the big object! Range, forty-five thousand meters, speed, thirty-one space knots...they're divin'...fast'!"

A minute passed as the Tigers climbed further. Then Angie Hartcliffe snapped in, yelling, "Captain Wildstar! One of them just jinked down to forty thousand meters like some mad dive-  
bomber...and it looks like he's attacking the city! Oh, GOD! He just shot a missile into an elementary school! And another one just slammed into the Federation Tower Building downtown!"

Damn, Wildstar thought. It's a good thing Jonathan just finished up the high school year early this week due to this heat...but what about those other children getting out later this week? Damnit! "Mrs. Hartcliffe! Pursue him and knock him down with as little collateral damage as possible; we'll be meeting you down towards the deck in a minute!"

"We've got company, man!" yelled Brew as he dodged a missile.

"SCRAMBLE!" snapped Derek over his command frequency."They've jumped us! Turn about and fight them off! All planes maintain formation behind your flight leaders!"

Derek gritted his teeth and flipped his plane about, followed by Nova and Clive. "Lots of data on them now," Nova said. "Physical profile seems to match that of Spectran agents that we engaged some weeks ago in that mecha we fought. They have a slightly higher body temperatrure than ours, so they're easy to pick up on sensors. I'm reading a large amount of data for later analysis on them. Heads up!" Nova yelled as her breathing rasped in her space helmet. "Two of them are coming right for us!"

"Ready to engage!" yelled Clive over Derek's headset.

Nova gave Derek a thumbs-up, which he returned, and then gave to Hardy's plane as they peeled off to engage the enemy, heading up into the sky as the enemy planes rushed down to meet them.

The Spectran planes, as it turned out, were nasty-looking little things in gold and black, painted up in a pattern similar to but different from the old Black Tigers they had once flown. Derek spotted one of them firing at Deke's plane, but Wakefield evaded the enemy fight as it peeled off, trying to get the advantage as the enemy had attacked first.

Wildstar soon got a signal in his headset. It was a high, piercing tone that made him grit his teeth.

Then, a rough, nasty voice said, "Are you the enemy commander?"

"I am. State your mission and your reason for intruding upon Earth Federation airspace!" Wildstar demanded.

"We are here to study you, our inferiors," barked the enemy pilot as he spoke into his lip mike under his ugly demon-head helmet. "I am Leftenant Gramis, of the Spectran Imperial Forces. Your forces are going to be so easy to beat that it makes me sick!"

"Gramis, you are to turn about and leave our airspace!" Derek demanded.

"Not bloody likely, asshole," Gramis replied in a sneering voice. "Take this!"

Soon, Gramis himself shot a missile between Derek and Nova's Super Stars, and was greeted with forward cannon fire from both Wildstars as he fired at them and then tried to pull away. Caught in a crossfire from both Derek's and Nova's planes, the enemy ship blew apart, with Gramis screaming "LONG LIVE THE LUMINOUS ONE! LONG LIVE THE GREAT SPIRIT!" over the circuit as he perished.

"We shut him up in a hurry, Derek!" Nova said over the circuit with a grin on her face...a grin which hid her nausea in realizing that these killers, terrorists, and madmen seemed to be religious zealots of some type.

"Good shooting...remind me to buy you a malted later on," Derek teased.

"Malted? Haha! Make that a Prime Rib dinner with a salad and sparkling cider, Derek!" Nova snapped back.

"If we get out of this alive, I'll buy you whatever you want, Commander," Derek said.

Behind them, there was a scream over the comm circuits as one of the alien planes killed a young Black Tiger known as Higashi.

A moment later, Hardy was heard over the circuit as he followed another plane back up to the edge of space, saying, "Wildstah! They got Higashi and Manning's plane has taken damage! I'm gonna make 'em pay foh that!" he barked back. "How are you doin'?"

"Nova and I got one, joint kill," said Commodore Wildstar.

"Good job," said Hardy.

A moment later, they heard a yell as a pilot named Ensign Louise Kelly was surrounded by two of the alien planes; one of which fired at her, making her scream as her plane was damaged and shrapnel rammed into her lower leg. Before she could react, they both fired capture cables at her, and grabbed her Tiger and began to haul it off.

Kelly was one of Wakefield's pilots. Derek heard him yelling, "Kelly! Punch out now! We can get you later! We can't let them take in your bird! Punch out and then let us blow your plane apart!"

"Having...hard time...plane's damaged...I'm...wounded...can't move foot...on one of the rudder pedals...hurts!"

"KELLY!" yelled Deke as he gritted his teeth. He slammed his dashboard with frustration as he saw Ensign Kelly's damaged plane being dragged away by the Spectrans as a prisoner, even as she yelled, "Wakefield! Sir! I can't punch out, but I don't want them getting my plane! Shoot me down, please!" she cried.

Brew, with tears of rage running down his cheeks, tried to fire at Kelly's plane as per her wishes, but he missed.

Then, a moment later, Wakefield heard a loud scream on his circuit...

..as he saw that one of the enemy planes had caught Nova's Super Star with a capture cable!

"Damn them!" he yelled. "Wildstar! I'm plunging in! One of them's captured Nova!"

In her plane, Nova jinked hard; she had been caught by one capture cable, but she had evaded the other one by manuevering like a maniac. She managed to get on an even plane with the second bird, which was trying again come around to capture her, when she pumped some fire into the ship and blew it apart.

A moment later, Wakefield caught Nova's tormentor (which was being lashed around quite a bit on the cable because Nova was not ready to roll over and say die by any means) in his sights, and a nice burst of fire cut the capture cable. Bereft of its power source, the remainder of the electromagnetic capture cable came off Nova's wing, and the enemy ship peeled off, trying to run with the others when Derek Wildstar caught it in his sights and he blew it apart.

"They're runnin!" yelled Clive Hartcliffe.

"Yes, they're definitely running," said Angie from her plane as she flew back into formation. "Got the one who attacked the school...he was strafing innocent damn civilians! Clive, they tried to capture me, too, but Brew saved my bacon. They dragged Kelly off, but..."

"I see a nasty pattern here," Commodore Wildstar sighed as he thought; They captured Louise Kelly, and they tried to capture Angie Hartcliffe and Nova. They focused on all our women. But how would they know that?

"I got two more, but they're runnin'," said Hardy. "Estimated height up to their mothership, two hundred thousand meters...request permission to pursue and attack their mothership..."

Commodore Wildstar breathed hard and then he said, "All planes, form up behind your flight leaders...we're pursuing them...repeat...we're pursuing them! Let's see if we can rescue Ensign Kelly, we..."

The remaining seven Tigers and two Super Stars regrouped, and roared up into the clouds high over the Pacific to pursue the enemy. The sky began to turn dark around them aagin as they all approached the edge of space.

They glimpsed a large, flat, ugly spacecraft carrier that looked something like a massive green slug. A number of small dots that appeared to be the enemy planes gathered around it and then vanished.

A moment later, it warped away in a flash of light.

"Well?" said Hardy.

"Kuso!" hissed Derek as he punched his dashboard. "Bastards got away...with the Ensign and one of our planes. "DAMNIT!"

SIX HOURS LATER...

"Well, it could have been worse," Wildstar said aboard the Argo a few hours later. The Black Tigers and some of the bridge crew had gathered for dinner at the Captain's Table, and there, Nova was getting the Prime Rib she had requested...along with some of the other officers. Rosstowski, Nova noticed, was smearing a lot of horseradish on his cut of beef. Nova teased him with, "Paul, are you having some meat with horseradish, or a ton of horseradish with a little bit of meat? Ugggh!"

"I've always liked spicy crap, Nova, you know that. Goes back to our first mission together."

"Paul, be careful or I may have to pump your stomach later," Nova teased. "Where's Aliscea?"

"Back at the Embassy. She is not in a good mood," Rosstowski said.

"Oh...sorry," Nova said as she picked at her Rice Pilaf.

"So what did everyone think of our disaster up there today?" Commodore Wildstar said.

"We were fairly lucky this time, in spite of our losses,' said Sandor. "Only one of them peeled off to attack the ship, but we had enough computer function up and running that we were able to get the pulse lasers going to fight them off."

Paul Rosstowski added, "The pulse lasers had to be fired in auto mode from my bridge station at Combat, but they worked. Great job in gettiing the computers up and running, Nova."

"Thanks," she said with a slight blush. "I had a close call out there today; Derek, Deke...thank you for helping to save my bacon. I feel awful about what happened to Ensign Kelly."

"Hopefully, she'll remember her training and won't break and give them too much information," Sandor said sadly as he looked at Diane.

"Yeah...but this didn't save that school...nor the Federation Tower...nor the one hundred people who died out there on Knox Boulevard," said Derek as he dipped some tempura shrimp into his soy sauce in a desultory fashion. He had taken the "B" Entr e, while most of the crew had taken the "A" Entr e of the Prime Rib.

Sasha looked at Deke and the others and said, "You know I was at the Cosmo-Radar during the battle...the rage...the utter hatred that I picked up in my spirit from that bunch...it was sickening."

IQ-9, who had been manning Artillery during the battle, said, "You and Miss Henson looked very ill during the battle."

"We felt ill during the battle," said Lieutenant Solomon Harper, a new officer assigned to the Argo at the last minute as Navigation Group Leader in the absence of both Kitano and Eager, who were assigned to other commands at the moment. Harper was such a new Star Force member that he still had his Standard Duty Blues on, not having had enough time to be fitted for the traditional white and green uniform yet. Nova had discovered in talking with him that he had a son named Desmond who had just turned six and was crazy about ships, boats, and aviation. Solomon, Desmond, and the rest of the family lived in a small fishing village in one of Japan's Southern Islands, one of many expats evacuated to the relatively radiation-free (until later in the war) Great Island region during the Gamilon War who had never left.

Dinner went on as the rest of the crew talked, and exchanged pleasantries. Nova noticed that Derek was still not smiling...yet.

I think I know how I can make him smile, Nova thought with an impish smile as she worked on her broccoli. But it's going to have to wait until we get to our quarters...

"Man, I'm beat," Derek Wildstar said about an hour later as he got rid of his boots and lay down on their bunk up in the Argo's Captain's Quarters. "Nova, what are you doing?"  
"Putting away some stuff," she said as she threw her flight helmet and gloves into her locker and shut it. "Now, the problem is...you look miserable..."

"Nova, I'm sorry...I'm tired, I feel like crap...I feel defeated, and I am miserable," he sighed. "We all should have been able to do more up there in that battle today. Instead, we let three of those damn planes wreak havoc. When I heard from the Commander earlier, he was upset about everything..."

"I was there. But, Derek, did he blame you?"

"No, he didn't. He denied us permission to go off into space and search for the ship, though..."

"For good reason," Nova sighed. "The computers are not as ready as I would like them to be yet so we can be sure we can warp safely. And Steve agrees with me, Derek," she said. She walked over to the edge of the bunk and said, "Now what do I have to do to make you smile? Hmmm..." Nova thought. Then, she pivoted around and hit the switch that would close the privacy curtains on the big windows.

As they were beginning to close, Nova jumped up onto the bunk with Derek, startling him a little. "Uh, Derek?" she said.

"Yes?"

"We haven't had a lot of time to be together the past few days," she said. "We're not expected back home yet," Nova whispered. "Would you like to dance with me?" she whispered.

"Yes, Nova...I'll dance with you anytime..." he replied.

Nova then curled up on top of her husband, hugged him, and began to stroke his hair.

Then, she moved in closer, the scene of her violet perfume intoxicating Derek as she began to breathe against the side of his neck and then began to kiss him with a deep, deep tenderness.

Derek put an arm around her and began to smile as she caressed his cheek with her other hand, and kissed him again and again.

Finally, Derek kissed back.

Their tongues met as they kissed, and Nova began to sigh softly as she ran her hand over Derek's uniform-clad chest.

Finally, after a few minutes of this, Derek began to stroke his lover's back, feeling every muscle and every curve through her skintight gold uniform.

"Mmmmmm...I love you," Nova whispered in his ear as she curled her legs around him like a cat.

"Nova...I am so glad they didn't capture you today...you had a close call there...how did you handle it?"  
"Easy. I know you need me...I know Alex and Ariel and Jonathan need me...all four of my big kids," Nova whispered. "I know damn well none of you would be able to live without me for long." Nova sat up, with tears running down her face even as she smiled, and said, "And even if they had taken me, I would fight tooth, nail and claw to get back to you. Nothing will keep me from my work, my mission or from you, Derek. Not Ekogaru, not Zoltar, not the Gates of Hell, and even if I died young before my time, I'd be begging the Almighty Himself to send me back home to you! I'm not leaving you, the kids, or our friends on this crew until my work is done and I am really, really old, and can lie down and die in peace."

"And if I died before you? And went to Hell?" Derek asked.

"If you went down there," Nova said as she held Derek. "I would go to Hell to follow you and rescue you, even if I had to kick Master Lucifer himself right in the crotch to get you back!"

"You're one determined young lady," Derek said as he kissed her and their touching grew more passionate.

"Oh, God...I know...is the hatch locked? God..I just remembered. We don't need anyone walking in on us..."

"Let's get up and check," Derek said as he held Nova and she showered him with passionate kisses. After he saw it was locked, he did the same as she began to pull open his shirt.

Derek, in the meantime, took Nova's gunbelt off and set it and her weapon aside. Then, he unzipped her uniform part of the way from the front as they stood there kissing and she somehow got out of her boots. Then, up on her bare toes, Nova danced with her husband in his embrace as he undid her bra from the front and began to tease her breasts as she sighed..

"I love your chest," Nova whispered. "It's so warm..."

"I love that stomach of yours," Derek said as he ran his fingers down her stomach, right down to the center of her as he unzipped her uniform all the way while he began to relieve her of her panties...and then the rest of her uniform.

Finally nude, Nova kissed Derek eagerly as his hands teased her bottom, and then the rest of her as he guided her back to the bunk. She whispered, "Let me straddle you..."

Derek said, "Of course," as she opened his pants and freed him from them as soon as she guided him to sit on the bunk.

Nova then began to feel utter ecstacy as they began to dance.

They joined maybe thirty seconds later, with Nova in his lap, gasping happily as Derek had his hands on her bottom and helped move her up and down on him as they thrusted at each other in their own special dance while Nova clung to hiim. By their love, they were cleansing each other from the taint of loss and pain from their recent perceived failure and incomplete victory in battle.  
"I love you...I love you so much!" Nova screamed as Derek ground his teeth as he climaxed, and then, she screamed as her foot went up, her toes curled, and her climax hit her like the ocean...like the world's biggest, gnarliest, craziest wave...the craziest wave she had ever surfed in in her life, except for on Iscandar. Derek exploded with pleasure a moment later and then kissed her like mad.

Nova collapsed against her husband and lover, laughing and crying at the same time as she said, "Derek...darling...I wish I could be like that with you all of the time...all of the time..."

"We can do this again tonight after the kids are asleep," Derek whispered. "Be sure you don't wear anything to bed..." Derek said as he touched her on the nose.

"Now when have I worn anything to bed in the past few weeks?" Nova teased as she pushed him down on the bed, plopped on his chest, and played with his hair.

"You sure are frisky tonight," Derek said.

"Anything to put a smile back on your face, Derek," Nova said. "You're smiling now, Space Cowboy, see that?" Nova said as he grinned.

"You need a shower," Derek said.

"So do you," Nova laughed back. "And your uniform's a mess!"

"Then why don't you get it off me?" Derek teased.

Nova did that.

It was a little while until they took their shower...

V. ...A BIT OF HALFTIME

Earth

The San Diego Megalopolis

Space Battleship Argo

Saturday, June 4, 2208

0410 Hours Local Time

The Pan-Am University/University of Colorado football match had originally been scheduled for June the 4th. Because of the shock of the attack upon San Diego, it was rescheduled to June the 11th.

During the week, the two ad hoc rock bands that would perform with the cheerleading squads and special guests of both teams spent some time rehearsing in between their normal lives. All of the medical personnel in San Diego were tired and on edge. In fact, after Derek and Nova Wildstar got home on the night of the third, Nova got maybe two hours' worth of sleep before an urgent phone call from Doctor Sane awakened her and forced her to head off to Central Hospital San Diego at 0300 in the morning on the 4th for one eighteen-hour shift up to 2100 Hours that night.

Then, Nova changed into her Star Force uniform and flew Doctor Sane, IQ-9 and some badly wounded patients in one of the Argo's Medical Boats (Boat #21107, as a matter of fact; the very space boat she had given birth to Alex and Ariel in) in a sub-orbital trajectory in a trip to the Tokyo Megalopolis that took maybe forty-five minutes, escorted by Derek's fighter on one side and Hardy's on the other. While they were flying there, Nova called Derek (as soon as she saw him) and asked, "Derek, you're up there, I'm here..who's with Alex and Ariel?"

"Jonathan and Ms. Eloise," he said back. "But Jonathan's really tired, and while he loves his baby brother and sister, he can only do so much..."

"Mmmm," Nova nodded. Doctor Sane was riding along beside her, sipping at some sake from his bottle. "Doctor Sane, any idea how long this might go on?"

"There were a lot of injured in San Diego, Nova. It might be days...weeks..."

"Derek, mind if I call Mom and have her and Dad stay with us for a few days with Aurora and David?" Nova asked.

"Where are they?"

"Their apartment in the Megalopolis."

"Okay...call away, then," Derek sighed, while realizing this would probably be necessary. Nova and her mother had made up...but only somewhat.

Nova had EDF Comm Central patch her through to her mother as she flew. Nova caught Teri reading a book. When Nova explained to her mother what was going on and offered to fly them back to San Diego with her (since she had orders to deadhead the boat back , after Teri talked with her father, she came back and said, "I understand what's going on. I was gettiing worried when we didn't hear from you from San Diego. Aurora and David are in their jammies, but I'll get them dressed and pack some things and we'll all meet at the hospital. You'll be landing on one of those landing pads on top of the hospital? I see things going in and out of there all the time..."

"I sure will be," Nova said. "See you then, Mom." Nova blew her mother a kiss, talked to Derek for a bit, found out that he would be escorting them home, too, and then asked, "When we get back to San Diego, where are we landing?"

"Right on the Argo," he said. "She's in dock now, but Lieutenant Harper will be taking her out under Sandor's command in a while and heading her out about ten kilometers off shore to allow us to land, and then we'll cruise back to the dock. I'll call Jonathan and tell him to be ready."

"Okay," Nova said.

A few minutes later, Teri and Karl Forrester arrived, with David and Aurora coming up with them. Teri had on a skirt, white top, and sandals, and Karl had on a sports shirt, jeans, and boots. David had on a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers without socks, while little Aurora had on a sundress, hat, and sandals. "Sorry we took so long," said Nova's father as he hugged his daughter. "Aurora wanted the hat on."

"You look cute," Nova said as she kissed her sister on the nose. She also hugged and kissed David, and then said, "You'll be flying back here...strap in until we're airborne."

"Roger," said Karl.

"You're flying this ship all by yourself, dear?" said Teri. Nova nodded and said, "I think you'll like the view..."

After Nova saw to it her passengers were bucled in, she called Ground Control and took off.

Ten minutes later, as the boat left at about 2200 Tokyo Megalopolis time, Nova allowed her passengers to walk around. David and Aurora were fascinated by the view of Derek and Alex's planes that could be seen out the portholes, while Teri was entranced by the view of the sky and the curvature of the Earth seen out the main cockpit windows as Nova flew the ship.

"I think I'm beginning to understand why you love the military," Teri said. "If I could see a view like this every day..."

"Mom...this is just part of my job," Nova said. "But isn't it beautiful?"

"It sure is," said Karl. "And I can see you're a great pilot from the way you're handling this ship..."

"Thanks," Nova said with a blush.

The ship and planes arrived on the Argo at 0400 in San Diego on the same morning, going back several hours due to the vagarities of different time zones.

Nova landed in one of the aft bays, where IQ-9 was waiting to escort her parents, brother and sister to the First Bridge after they met up with Jonathan, Ms. Eloise, and Alex and Ariel, who were elsewhere in the ship.

Derek reunited with Nova a few minutes later, and they went up to the bridge together as Hardy turned in his flight plan with the radar controller on the ship.

The Wildstars arrived on the First Bridge at close to 0430 Hours. On the bridge were Sandor, and Lieutenant Solomon Harper.

"How is it going?" asked Wildstar as he took command from Sandor with a slaute.  
"It's been quiet since you left earlier," Sandor said. "Diane's on board but asleep."

"Do you want me to make some coffee?" Nova said with a yawn.

"In a while," said Sandor. A moment later, something began to beep at the empty Communications station.

"A message is coming on," Nova said.

"Go and open the circuit, Nova," Derek ordered.

A moment later, after opening the comm circuit herself (because the only four military officers on the Argo's bridge this hour were herself, Derek, Harper, and Sandor) Nova ran back beside Derek and saluted as the Commander came on the screen.

"At ease," he said. "Commodore Wildstar, how is the Argo's computer system holding up?"

"Not bad considering that not everything is fully hooked up yet, sir," said Derek. "If you need us deployed, sir...we could have the ship up and running in..." as he looked at Sandor.

Sandor then said, "About twenty-eight hours."

"We don't need you deployed...yet," said Commanding General Singleton. "I'm calling to inform you that the Danube got a fix on that Spectran carrier...it warped out beyond the Minerva-Brumus Asteroid Belt as soon as they spotted them. But, based on what you told me before, I'm going to finish cutting crew orders to get you a full First Star Force by the early part of August, Commodore. By the way, Commander Wildstar, I heard about your performance in that battle. Great work."

"Thank you, sir!" Nova said with a small grin.

"Sir?" said Lieutenant Harper as he stood and saluted. "Am I going to be permanently assigned to the Star Force?"

"That will remain to be seen, Mister Harper," he said. "Commodore, since I know that Commander Sandor will not be available for the patrol in August, I am trying to find you a new Mechanical/Science Officer, a new First Officer, and a new Engineering Officer to take the places of the future Commander and Mrs. Sandor on this upcoming mission."

"Thank you, sir. Is there anything else?" Derek said.

"I've been told by Medical Command that you and Commander Wildstar and your pilots are granted eighteen hours off-duty, starting now..." said Singleton. "You can take advantage of this time to do whatever you wish...consider it a short liberty."

"Anything else, sir?" Nova asked.

"Just good luck in the repair work in San Diego. Over and out."

"Sir," said Derek and the others as they saluted.

Then, Nova sat down at her old post and took off her boots. "I'm sorry, Derek...my feet are just hurting...I need to get out of these damn boots!" she said as she sat there barefoot.

"Permission granted," Derek said with a grin. "Although you may want sandals on if you plan to walk around the ship later. There's bits of metal about..."

A minute later, Jonathan ran onto the bridge (in shorts, thongs, and a t-shirt) followed by a yelling Aurora and David, Ms. Eloise, and Karl and Teri Forrester, who were holding a crying Alex and Ariel. Alex and Ariel had on only t-shirts and diapers.

Nova sat down behind the quiet Cosmo-Radar station and said, "Mom, set them here in my lap. What's wrong, darlings?" Nova said as she checked them, feeling their diapers. "They need changes. Jonathan, when did you last change them?" Nova asked.

"Two hours ago," Jonathan said. "Ms. Eloise and I just got here. That's why we were delayed, Mom..."

"It's okay," Nova said as IQ-9 looked on while she undressed Alex and Ariel down to their skin. "You look amusing at your post doing that, Nova! Ha-ha!" IQ-9 said.

"You want to help?" Nova said tartly. "Get me those baby wipes, Tinwit!"

"I bet I could do that ten thousand times more efficiently that you," IQ-9 said.

Alex looked at his mother, whimpered and grabbed at her breast. "You can't do this," Nova said as she quickly undid her uniform part-way, revealing one of her bare breasts. Alex began to nurse while Ariel looked at her and screamed for the other one, yelling, "WAN' MOMMY! ME WAN' MOMMY!"

Everyone laughed as Nova blushed and undid her other breast...unzipping her outfit a bit further.

But, as she did so, her left breast came free...

...and exploded in a stream of milk that sprayed out of her nipple, ran over Ariel, ran down her partially exposed body, and actually hit one of the domes of the radar!

Everyone laughed loudly, and Nova really blushed as Derek and her mother took pity upon her and took Alex and Ariel away. "I'm soaked!" Nova cried as she opened her uniform up all the way, right down to her crotch. She bared herself so Derek could wipe her as Teri took the screaming babies. She blushed as it was now evident to all there that beneath her uniform, she went sans underwear and was now almost naked.

Nova then sat there a moment, gasping a little as Sandor cleaned up her panel. "Would you get Derek?"

Sandor nodded, and Derek came over as he said, "Yes? You know you'll need to feed them again...they're still hungry!" he said as they screamed.

"It's okay, Derek. I can't help it now...just strip me. This uniform is a mess now...I'd be better off naked. You...you can see all of me anyway, now," she laughed.

Then, there came some rustling at the radar as Sandor said, "Would you guys please turn your heads? Poor Nova has to expose herself to get out of those clothes..."

The men respectfully turned away as Derek and Teri gently worked on stripping Nova of her clothes and then putting the babies on her. This technicially didn't bother Nova that much, since her preferred nursing wear was nothing at all anyawy. She just wished...she could have held off to do this in private.

Then, the rustling at the radar was finished.

Alex and Ariel's cries and whimpers suddenly stopped as IQ-9 said, "Ms. Eloise! How is she quieting them down?"

"Easy," said the female robot. "She is giving them what they needed...that is all..."

"Which is?" said IQ-9 as he turned to look at Nova, and then was squelched when Derek said, "IQ, NOT a word! And don't you DARE come near her or our children right now!"

"Darling," Nova said softly as Derek tenderly picked up Nova and his boy and girl...

"Awwwww," said Lieutenant Harper as Teri Forrester choked back tears.

Derek was carrying Nova as she nursed, with her breasts now fully exposed and free for her little ones as she now lay totally naked in his arms. She looked tender, poetic, and beautiful as she nursed her little twins in the nude, which reminded Derek of how she had looked right when they had been born since she had labored and then given birth to them naked. She looked at Lieutenant Harper and really blushed, thinking, This is the second time the man meets me, and I have no clothes on within half an hour. What must he think? Oh, well...shikata ga nai...It can't be helped, she thought with a shrug of her shoulders as she tried to adjust her legs so that not too much of her body would be showing.

"They're so cute," said Lieutenant Solomon Harper as he watched Nova being carried across the bridge. "Ma'am, you remind me of my wife Denise when she had Desmond, my boy. She used to love to do that..." Harper tried to bite back a sob, and just about succeeded. Denise Harper had died of long-onset radiation sickness a year and a half ago, leaving him alone with Desmond, who was currently with his brother and sister back in their fishing village in the Southern Islands.

"Sis, your suntan is so pretty!" said Aurora as she ran up and kissed Nova's hand.

"Thank you, honey," Nova said as Sandor wiped tears from his eyes, hoping that the operation scheduled in the next ten days would go well...and allow him to carry Diane around like that, loving their child as Derek kissed little Ariel's reddish-blond hair.

Ariel then made everyone almost cry again when she pulled off her mother's breast, looked at her father and said, "DADDY!" as she kissed him. Then, she turned back to her mother and cooed, "Mommie.."

"Yes, Mommy loves you," Nova said as she began to cry softly. Then, she began to sing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..." to her little ones as Derek carried her to the chair lift. "Where are we going?" she said.

"Up to our quarters, dearest..for more privacy," Derek said. "You also need to sleep, my love," he said diplomatically, as he thought, Nova, I see your hands shaking. You're exhausted! After you're done with them, maybe we'll make love for a bit, and then I am not letting you get dressed because you are going right to sleep for a few hours...

"Then let's walk up, Derek. The lift might scare them...they're still only nine and a half months old..."

"Okay," he said. No one said a word, and there was not a dry human eye on the First Bridge as Derek carried Nova to the doors and off the bridge as she sang softly to her little ones again while Teri picked up Nova's soiled uniform and discarded boots. "Commander Sandor, where does this uniform go? It needs to be washed...I'll need to bring her her boots later on..."

Sandor said, "IQ-9, show Mrs. Forrester where the nearest hamper chute is on Tower Deck Two and help her put Nova's clothes in the wash. Remember, tinwit, this is Nova's mother. No funny stuff, even though she has a skirt on."

"Yes, Sandor. Mrs. Forrester, please follow me," he said.

Up in the Captain's Quarters, three minutes later, Derek sat on the bunk with Nova as she knelt in his lap touching and feeding her little ones. Derek noticed she was shaking. "Nova, what's wrong?"

"Derek...I can't help it! I want...I'm...hot...I...rubbing against you...I...just...damnit...just touch me!" she cried. "NOW! I'm so...sticky..I...this is driving me crazy!"

Derek kissed her, undid his gloves, and as Nova blushed, he began to tease her bottom, and then, he found her womanhood...

...and as Nova sighed, sobbed a little and lay her head against Derek's chest, he began to caress her there in a way that felt wonderful.

Nova began to moan softly as Alex pulled away and looked quizzically at her. "What's Daddy doing?" she said. "Oh, my God, he's making Mommy feel beautiful!"

"Beau-ti-fu?" said Alex, puzzled. "Mommy like?"

"Yes, darling, Mommy LIKES..." Nova said with a deep, deep blush. "mommy...ohhh...mommy...daddy driving mommy...out of mommy's mind...mommy is..."

Then, Nova shivered, buried her face in Derek's hair, and cried out in his ear in a melting climax that really made her milk flow! The babies got some, while some of the excess just ran down Nova's breasts and then down her (conveniently) unclothed stomach and sides.

The two little ones, receiving lots of nourishment, cooed and held onto their shaking young mother as Derek caressed Nova and them, as Nova was somewhere between crying and laughing with embarassment while Derek tenderly wiped her body clean with a warm, wet washcloth. This was about the fourth time in the past few months that Nova had died in his arms while feeding them naked in the heat. "I'd better wean them soon," Nova said with a laugh. "They're asking too many questions!"

"Yeah, they are," Derek whispered. "You think they'll remember this when they get older?"

"I hope not," Nova said as Derek helped her sit on the bunk. She put Ariel, and then Alex, over her shoulders to burp them as Nova said, "Derek! We forgot the diaper bag!"

Then, a tap came at the hatch. "Yes?" Commodore Wildstar barked.

"Just me," said Teri from the other side. "Nova forgot something..."

"Come in," Nova said. Teri opened the hatch and came in. "We have a bag here, with baby things, diapers, and a change of clothes for you, I think, Nova dear..." Teri said.

"Thanks," Nova said with a yawn. "I'm so tired..."

"Your father and I saw that before," said Teri. Teri looked at Derek and said, "Are you working her that hard?"

"No, the Medical Unit at Central San Diego is," Derek said. "Except for flying and rest and recreation time, the doctors own her for the next few days."

"And it's what we need, Mother," Nova said. "You know what happened a few days ago."

"But you get a chance to rest now," Derek said as he and Nova diapered Alex and Ariel, who were sleepy. They ended up falling asleep in their mother's arms, as Nova lay on the bunk, yawned, and allowed Derek to tuck her in and pull the sheet up to about her breasts to cover her. Nova was fast asleep two minutes later holding her sleeping babies. Both Derek and Teri kissed the sleeping young mother on the forehead as Derek said, "Get some rest, dear. You'll need it."

The Wildstars had eighteen hours' worth of R and R with the kids and Nova's parents after Derek came home from the Argo for a bit, where he supervised repairs and flew a another brief patrol himself with the Tigers while Nova he took her and the babies home later on, she had changed into a summer top that bared her shoulders, shorts, and flip-flops. Then Nova saw the need to leave them again at 1500 Hours on the fitfth and then the sixth of June for a sixteen-hour shift that included multiple surgeries and another flight in a Medical Boat as the pilot in charge...flying some badly wounded people to Central Hospital in the Tokyo Megalopolis, escorted by Derek on one side and Deke Wakefield on the other as Hardy and Brew escorted another Medical Boat. Then, Nova and the rest of the staff assisted in those surgeries after changing from regular uniforms to Medical gear.

Then, after some rest (which consisted of Nova crashed out almost fully clothed in her Medical gear, lying barefoot in Derek's lap on a couch in a lounge in the hospital) Nova got up, stretched, and told Derek, "You need a shave and a shower before you go back in that cockpit."

"Are you pausing for a shower?" Derek said.

"No," Nova said a moment later as she heard Doctor Sane being paged yet again for a dual-leg bionic replacement.

Ensign Jessica Springer ran in a moment later, in her smock and sandals, whining, "Ma'am, do we have to go back in again? My feet hurt! My shoes are killing me!" she whined.

"Just loosen the buckles a little," Nova sighed as she adjusted her own sandals slightly before putting them back on and pulling on a fresh set of paper shoe covers while guzzling down some coffee. "Derek, if I get an ulcer right now, blame those damned terrorists!"

"Damn right I'll blame them!" Derek snapped. "It's their fault you haven't been home since Saturday and your parents are watching the kids!"

"It's their fault we haven't been home since Saturday, not mine, sir!" Nova snapped back...not so much angry at him, but at the situation. "Don't you think I want to see our children?"

Derek then shot back, "Commander, you got a complaint? Send it air mail to Ibn Von Zoltar out your ass, not to me! I just work here!"

"Ooooo," Nova said in what Derek knew was a teasing tone but which Springer thought was nasty. "Cowboy of Outer Space has a burr up his ass?"

"Yeah, from dealing with bitchy Commanders who make shitty coffee!" he snapped back as he sloshed the coffee in his paper cup at her with a big grin. "I've served with you for nine years now! When the Hell are you gonna learn you use eight scoops when making a pot and not friggin' twenty?"

"When Hell freezes over, Flyboy!" Nova shot back, giving him a wink that Springer didn't notice.

Of course, as Springer heard this, she licked her lips as she heard Derek and Nova bitching some more in the way that only long-time servicemen and women could bitch about something to blow off steam about a tough mission. It was done in a time-honored manner that went straight back to when Caesar and his Top Centurion bitched each other out in the Roman Army maybe 2300 years ago. Jessica thought, Oooooo, their marriage is on the rocks. Look at them go! Wait until I tell everyone! The great couple is on the verge of divorce! And I got to see it!

"Are you two really mad at each other?" Jessica said.

"Not yet," Nova said.

"Yeah, when she gets really mad at me, she makes me drink a whole pot of coffee!" Derek yelled.

"Up yours, jackass!" Nova said.

"Do you kiss your mother with a mouth like that, Peppermint?" he teased.

"No, because the last time I saw my mother right before I left, we got into a little fight and I wanted to throw something at her!" Nova snapped. "Keep it up and you're next on the list, Derek!"

"Is that a threat?" he said.

"It's a promise," Nova said back with a smile, giving him a cheeky kiss on the nose before saying, "Work beckons. See ya later!"

"Yeah, bye," Derek said. "Don't give yourself a stroke, Novelle!" he shot back.

"I'll try not to, sir, " Nova said back. "C'mon, Springer," Nova said. "What are you doing? Writing notes in your head for a soap opera? We need to get in there and scrub!" Nova yelled as Springer looked hard at Derek in a way that Nova did not like. Stop ogling my husband, you tramp, Nova thought irritably as she grabbed Springer's hand and pulled her into the operating suite.

And so it went until about Wednesday, when things began to sort of go back to a semi-normal state. On Wednesday, the Wildstars were given the day off after having been on duty for over fifty hours in the past four days. They spent part of the day in bed...catching up on sleep. When Derek got up, he found he had soaked his pillow with blood from a stress-induced nosebleed that had hit him in his sleep. Nova took care of him, finding nothing new or unusual about this, since she had experienced a nosebleed like that herself while napping at Central Hospital San Diego the previous day.

It got very, very hot again the next day. So hot, as a matter of fact, that when Derek and Nova went out to shop for food, they did their trip in sandals...and swimwear. They found Dawn and Jefferson Hardy at the store with David, clad in a similar fashion. Jeff was as tired as the Wildstars, while Dawn felt utterly useless, having had nothing to do the past few days on her suspension except to care for David, watch the video reports, and pray that Jefferson came back all right.

On Friday, it rained like crazy and the heat broke somewhat. That led up to the current morning, where Dawn, as the "guest" cheerleader and singer (a role she felt a little out of her league in) for Pan-Am University, worked on being up front with her band, dancing, and singing with Kathi Allison, the current cheerleading captain of the Pan-Am Dolphins while she was accompanied by an ad hoc band consisting of Deke Wakefield on drums, Clive Hartcliffe on rythym guitar, Derek on bass, Nova towards the back on keyboards, Sasha on sax, and Paul Rosstowski on lead guitar.

Dawn was already in her cheerleading outfit, which was a spare two-piece in blue, white and red, with a minimal bute cute top, bikini bottoms, and a short, kicky skirt. Her midriff, legs, and feet were bare, and Hardy (as he watched her) had to admit that, whatever had happened, Dawn had done just enough exercise and PT (even in her depression) so that she didn't look fat by any means. In fact, she actually looked rather cute.

They were trying to do Holding Out For A Hero...(originated by Bonnie Tyler in the 20th Century) with Dawn picked to sing lead. Dawn would have preferred to be on drums, but as a Star Force veteran, she was one of those who had been picked by her school to come back in her old cheerleading uniform and to represent the EDF. However, Dawn kept on flubbing notes.

The band ground to a halt, and Kathi looked hard at Dawn and said, "Ma'am, when was the last time that you sang?"

"It's been a while, okay?" said Dawn as she stood there dazed in her cheerleader's oufit. "Trying to get it..."

"Let's try from the third bar," said Sasha as Dawn did all she could to keep from snarling at her.

"Righto!" said Nova in a fashion that struck Dawn as sarcastic. "One...two...three..."

"I need a Hero!" Dawn belted out as the band played behind her. "I'm Holdin' Out for a Hero at the End of the Night...I..."

They ground to a halt again while Kathi gave her a very dirty look. "Let me try the lead...you do the harmonies...no one's gonna notice...okay?"

Dawn made a pair of fists and held back tears as she said, "Okay, let's take it again..."

"One, two!" yelled Sasha as Dawn just wanted to kill her...

They went into the song again, but, even though Dawn danced halfway well and lip-synched the vocals along with Kathi, her actual harmonies were horrible...

"cut CUT!" yelled Rosstowski. He ran up to Nova and Derek and muttered, "In case you guys didn't notice, she sucks!"

"Noticed," Nova said quietly. Then, she ran up to behind the sound board and flicked a few sliders around. Then, she came up to Dawn and quietly said, "Dawn, when you dance, concentrate on the dance moves. Just lip-synch, and when you get to your harmonies, just sing in a very soft voice. It'll sound better in the mix," she said very, very diplomatically.

Dawn nodded, biting her lip as they went on and did the song again. She sang the harmonies softly, surprised to hear a near-perfect harmony part coming out through the foldback speakers...because Nova had quietly had her mike turned up behind her keyboards and was singing the part for her.

Finally, someone came up from the school and asked, "What's this band called?"

"The Bloody Band with No Name," said Clive Hartcliffe.

"Shit!" yelled Paul Rosstowski.

"Paul!" yelled Nova. "That's horrible! Dawn?"

"I have no idea," she said with a peeved look on her face.

"Derek?" Nova demanded. He said, "Call it the Noisemakers! I can't think of anything else! HUNGRY!"

"Oooo, you PEOPLE!" Nova snapped. Then, she ran up to Deke's bass drum (part of Deke's Ludwig Pearl Oyster drum kit), knelt before the skin, and grabbed up a can of black spray paint from the scaffolding to draw a sideways "eight" on the blank white drum skin below the Ludwig emblem so that it looked like this: (AN EIGHT ON ITS SIDE)

Thus named (while Deke hoped Nova's impulsive paint job didn't royally mess up this finish on his kit), Nova stomped off and said, "I need something to eat, too! A hero sandwich sounds good about now, as we were just singing about heroes!"

"That's a stupid pun, Nova!" Derek said.

She smiled at him and said, "Go soak your head, Derek!" with a giggle in her voice.

You go soak YOUR head! Dawn thought angrily as she glared at Nova.

Several hours later, Dawn was doing her act again, only, at halftime of the football game (Pan-Am was ahead, 21-17) before a full house of sixty thousand in the stadium and untold millions watching across the planet on video as she managed to dance and sing her way through "Holding Out For A Hero" and "You're My Best Friend" (sung with most of the Pan-Am cheerleading squad). The latter was sung to Hardy as he was brought out to many, many cheers in his Black Tiger uniform. Despite the strains in her marriage, Dawn tried to seductively give Jeff her toothiest of toothy grins as she smiled and danced with him for a moment before she ended to song with a kiss as she threw her arms around him. Jeff and Dawn looked very passionate, even though he and Dawn, given the go-ahead by her doctor, had just managed to clumsily become initimate again last night. They had made each other happy, even though they felt a sense of great dissatisfaction.

Finally, the ad hoc lineup of "Infinity" changed. Dawn threw on a warm-up jacket after the crowd cheered her, and she smiled a toothy grin at Deke as she sat down beside the drum kit, putting a set of bongos on her knees. She would be assisting with the percussion for Colorado's bit, and she did all she could to avoid what she felt were the giggles and sneers of the Frontierettes as they came running up in their cute black, white, and gold tops and skirts with white sandals. Dawn tried not to look at Kelli Feldman, the blond, gorgeous Captain of the Frontierettes that year, since she and Kelly had had words before...and only Nova had broken up the fight.

Dawn knew the way that Colorado's act would go, of course, so she didn't see Nova for the moment as another one of the Colorado girls took her place behind the keyboards as two of the Colorado Golden Buffalo mascots came out. One Buffalo took off for the wings as the introductions were made. Then, as Kelli got up, clapped her hands, and yelled "Let's go!" into the mike to some cheers but a lot of boos throughout the Pan-Am football stadium, the band started playing an extended intro for "I'm Still Standing" as Colorado's Golden Buffalo mascot got up, danced behind the cheerleaders, and then did a bump for a moment with Kelli as she twirled in her sandals and laughed.

Then, a second Golden Buffalo got up, and did three clumsy bumps with the other Golden Buffalo, finally kicking that Buffalo out of the way as the Colorado cheerleaders booed good-  
naturedly. A moment later, the Buffalo mascot then made the band pause, threw off the Buffalo headpiece, and then quickly unzipped the costume while the Buffalo turned its back to the crowd.

Then, the Buffalo flipped around as the costume fell away, revealing Nova as she knelt there for a moment in a cheerleader's dress on the Buffalo's skin, shaking her poms a little as she surveyed the crowd, which began to cheer as she was recognized. Nova pulled out the piano bench and did a hop and then a crazed jump behind the white grand piano as she began to get ready to play as she nodded once at the band.

The band started again as Nova hit the piano keys and then started to play "I'm Still Standing" as she took a confident lead on the vocals as Kelli and Derek joined her from behind her at the mike, doing harmonies as they drew in close to the vocalist and pianst. However, Kelly stepped back a little when she recognized the young couple quickly shutting their eyes and shaking their hair in a very Beatlesque fashion as they sang together into the mike, looking hard at each other with a searching look that captured a fire and passion somehow lacking in the way that Dawn and Jeff looked at each other.

Something about the way they sang was just infectious...soon, they had even the potentially hostile Pan-Am crowd clapping and stomping along with their song, complete with a dance that seemed instinctive. The crowd cheered as they kissed before Nova went into the bridge with the guitar solo playing over her, and then the main part of the song came up, where she played her heart out as if she was possessed in a performance that even her mother Teri appreciated!

Then, a moment later, the band segued into "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" after Nova shyly dedicated the song to the victims of the recent attack while strapping on her guitar and catching her breath from the previous song. As Derek and Kelli harmonized with her, Nova played along, and made her guitar cry very effectively as she thought of what she had seen for the past few days at the hospital and let the tears flow herself, choking up visibly as she hitched on a few of the words before letting her guitar again weep for San Diego in a moment that unified the stadium, and unified the planet.

Nova then played a few more flourishes, kissed Derek again, yelled into the mike, "In case anyone is listening...the spirit of this planet is NOT broken today!" and then, she bowed and took off her guitar and ran off as fast as she could.

Derek found her crying her eyes out in the green room behind the improvised stage on the field about two minutes later. Dawn slipped in, and suddenly realized that maybe her presence wasn't wanted there as Derek hugged Nova...before she got up and began banging her fists against a locker door as Derek said, "They love you...you didn't do anything wrong..."

"It's not that! I can't get the faces of those children I treated out of my mind!" Nova screamed. "What do those hyenas out there have to cheer about? Derek, what the HELL has happened to the human race? We suffer a tragedy, and what do they do? They turn it into an event! Damn this crap!" Nova yelled as she punched the locker again, not even caring that one of her hands was bleeding now. Derek hugged her as she just cried in his arms.

Then, she saw Dawn standing there and said, "Dawn, help him give me a hug, for crying out loud! Come on!"

Dawn then hugged Nova as she was being hugged by both her and Derek. Nova hugged her back and then smiled a little and said, "We go on...we move on...that's what we do! C'mon, Derek," she said as she smiled at him. "I believe we have some things to do?"

Derek kissed her and they nodded. Then, Nova kissed Dawn on the cheek and said, "Jeff's waiting for you. You did great, all things considered. Come on, Dawn...let's go."

Dawn nodded and went on, not knowing that Nova's friendly hug would be the last hug she would receive from her for many weeks...as things turned out...

AND THE EVIL FAIRIES

Earth

The San Diego Megalopolis

Pan-Am University

Monday, June 13, 2208

1600 Hours Local Time

The day began innocently enough for Dawn.

She was out shopping at the university for nursing textbooks for her review courses with Jeff and little David when Dawn looked at Jeff and said, "Jefferson?"

"Yeah?" he said.

"Let's decide that today is the day we start over again. Let's forget all the bad stuff that happened over the past few weeks, and go to Greatland's for coffee again...just like we did when we were dating. The difference is...we have David with us...and we're a family. Just us. No Wildstars. No weird Katrina. No Deke. No Sasha! Just us! Okay?"

"Sounds great," said Hardy with a smile.

They went to the coffee shop, and laughed as a couple and again enjoyed themselves.

Until Caella Sakamoto, Jade Parker, and Jessica Springer showed up, laughing their heads off, and getting a lot of disapproving looks from the other customers at the quiet coffee shop on the college campus.

Caella and Jessica looked at Dawn and said, "Hey, Hardy! Wanna go to a party later on?"

"I'm not in the mood to go to any parties," said Dawn as she kicked a sandal off her black-  
stockinged foot under the table. It had gotten a little cooler today (high 70's) so Dawn had on an elaborate, almost little-girly dress with black stockings and a toy rabbit for David (who was nearby in a baby carrier on a chair) who was kicking away as he gurgled and gooed. "I'm with my husband, as you can see, and we're buying schoolbooks."

"Oooooo, you don't have any fun anyone now that you've got a family," sneered Jessica as the others laughed. "Too bad, Mrs. Hardy! Did you hear that the Wildstars' marriage is breaking up? It's such great gossip. I'm selling it to a tabloid. I really heard them yelling at each other the other day!"

"So? We just suffahed an attack," said Hardy. "We're all kinda on edge. We were all on the front line and we're all tired."

"Too bad you have to live with a plain, fat girl like her, Hardy," sneered Jade as the others laughed again.

"Why, you!" Dawn snapped. "Don't you dare call me fat!"

"Which army's gonna stop us?" said Caella. "You and your hubby and your freaky friend Katrina Savela? That woman is soooo freaky!"

Dawn (to her credit) rolled up her eyes as they began to chant, "Freaky, freaky, FREAKY! Freaky, freaky, FREAKY!"

A moment later, as Dawn got up to take the argument further, a young woman in a white top, faded olive-drab military-issue vest, short black skirt, and sandals came up and said in her low, alto voice, "Don't you ladies think you're wearing out your welcome? Mrs. Hardy has a lot going on, and she does not need to be bothered!"

Dawn smiled, never so glad, for once, to see Nova showing up in her life. Dawn picked up David's rabbit as Nova kicked her backless sandals off. She looked at Caella and the others and said, "I really think you should be going. Dawn and I need to talk, and what we have to discuss is really none of your damn business. In fact, it's classified. Now go?"

The three bad girls gave Nova a very dirty look as they left. Nova thought she heard Jade saying, "You wait, I'll get that bitch in troble with General Stone for this!" but she wasn't sure. A strong, smart woman like her often had to face the slings and arrows of the bleached-blonde airhead type, and since all three of those girls were bleached-blondes, Nova didn't worry all that much about it. Nova did not have a high opinion of bleached blondes.

"How are you doing?" Nova asked, honestly concerned about Dawn. "Derek and I, and even Deke and Sasha, were worried about you when we didn't hear from you the other day."

"Things are..fine," said Dawn as she waved to Hardy, motioned Nova aside and sat down on the grass nearby, holding her comm device.

Nova's phone rang a moment later, and after she answered, she said, "Derek? How are the kids? Awww...that's cute. Yeah. I'm sitting here with Dawn...actually touching shoulders with her. She looks...tired...but okay. Yeah, I know we're tired. They said my plane's fixed? Great! I want to get some more flight hours in today. Make sure they have the second place set up in it...I want to take Sasha up and give her a little bit of flying practice. Good...love you. I...oh...since we can't go to that Embassy Ball in the Megalopolis because we both have to work tonight after being with the kids for a bit, can I give Dawn our tickets? I'll see if she has a gown for it. Take care. Love you!"

"He calls at the worst times," Nova said. "Love him anyway. Does Hardy ever drive you up the wall like that?"

"He sure as hell fucking does," Dawn said as Nova cleared her throat loudly and said, "Dawn. Locker-room talk. I don't like that!"

"Sorry, ma'am," Dawn said.

"It's nothing, so long as you don't do it again," Nova said. She dug in her vest pockets, finally finding the tickets and invitation. Nova thought for a moment, and then scrawled a quck note on the back of the invitation before she put it in an envelope with the tickets. "Here you go, and you and Jeff use them in good health," Nova said as she kicked her sandals back on. Then, she looked at Dawn and said, "I'd like you two to go together, of course. Do you have a gown or nice dress to wear?"

"No..."

Nova sighed as she dug in her pockets. "Here's a spare key to my house in the Tokyo Megalopolis. We're close to the same size so I think you can find something in my closet...put your foot up here," Nova said as she compared her bare foot with Dawn's stockinged one. "Hmmm...looks like I'm half a size bigger than you," Nova commented,. ""Won't matter that much if you grab a pair of my formal sandals or something. I have a black pair you can adjust with a thong-type front you can wear with almost anything. You'll have to lose the stockings but that won't matter much. Now, I have to be going to the base..."

"We'll be followin' yuh," Hardy said. "I have to check mah plane out, too..."

"Sounds like we have a bloody plan," Nova said with a grin. "See you guys there."

At that, she left as Dawn kicked her shoes back on...

At the base, Dawn waved as Nova's Super Star cruised away from the tarmac a while later. She was flying the plane, but Sasha was in the back place with her; Nova was going to be giving her some flying lessons. Dawn and Sasha had said hello, but the greetings had been rather tart and frosty.

"Where are they going?" Dawn sneered as Deke came up.

"I saw the flight plan," Wakefield said. "She's taking Sasha to the middle of nowhere; some little automated dirt strip near Lehighton, Pennsylvania. She and Derek were out on another flight and he took her up there to nowhere. I think those two found a new place to neck or something, knowing them," Deke chuckled. "Maybe she's taking Sasha out there to pick flowers or buy a six-  
pack of Pepsi," said Wakefield as he rolled up his eyes.

"How would they buy a six-pack of Pepsi in the middle of nowhere?" Hardy asked.

"Easy. Wildstar told me they found an old bike with a package shelf on the back and a basket sitting abandoned up there. They kind of appropriated it and Derek pedals around with Nova clingin' to him like a kid," laughed Hardy. "Presumably, Nova and Sasha are gonna do the two gals on a bike bit or somethin'. Nova told me she did it with her befoah. For a gal with all those brains in her head, she acts awful squirrelly, girly, and teenage at times...just like you, Dawn!"

"Thanks, Jeff," sneered Dawn. Deke rolled up his eyes, imagining Nova riding the bike in the middle of Lehighton going to some podunk hole in the wall store someplace with Sasha hanging on and laughing her head off.

"I'm going to a ball tonight," said Dawn. "With Jefferson, darling. Rght, Jeffey?" she said as she gave Hardy a big-toothy smile.

"Right," said Hardy, wondering why she was calling him..."Jeffey" Well, better than her calling Wakefield 'Deekee', he thought...

That night, Katrina sat at a table in the ballroom of the Pellian Embassy at the edge of the Megalopolis with Foxy.

Both of them were in fashionable black. Foxy had on a black tuxedo, while Katrina wore a backless short halter-top black dress with black stockings and sandals. She also had a green ribbon tied in her hair; it was a touch Michelle had added to her outfit. While Katrina did not really like it that much, she wore it so that she would make Michelle happy.

"I am looking forward to zis night," said Katrina as she danced with Foxy. "I talked with Aliscea before?"

"And?" said Foxy.

"It is said a secret guest will be appearing here tonight; it appears he is staying at another one of the Embassies," said Katrina in an excited whisper (which would not have been so excited if she had known who the mystery guest would turn out to be...). "Aliscea and her mate Paul Rosstowski are hosting this whole thing. A lot of the EDF is invited, too..."

"Your buddies are coming," said Foxy.

"Who?"

"Derek and Nova are supposed to be putting in one of their appearances tonight," said Foxy. "I got a tip from a little bird here at the Embassy. You know that other magazine you've been working for...the fashion one?"

"Yes?" whispered Katrina.

"A photographer named Jacqui is supposed to be here tonight...she'd like you to write some blurbs under the photos she wants to get of Nova's and Aliscea's outfits, as well as the outfit that our mystery guest's escort will be wearing. And you'll get a byline."

"I like zat," smiled Katrina. "I really like zat! And I know Nova and Aliscea will love to talk to me about their clothes," said Katrina with a big, big grin. She was gettiing to like the way that both women dressed, and she guessed that they would both really look good tonight, especially on the arms of the handsome military officers escorting them.

Foxy and Katrina got up to dance, and then, after they danced, they waved to Aliscea, who looked gorgeous in a black gown and sandals. She wore a black choker with a gorgeous black jewel on it that glittered as she walked.

She spotted Katrina, waved, and called out, "Mrs. Foxworth-Savela!" as she made a come-hither gesture with her hand. "May I see you and Foxy for a moment...in private?"

Confused, Katrina nodded and followed Aliscea, Paul, and Foxy out.

In a side room, a few minutes later, Aliscea said, "Katrina, we will need your help again in a few days. Probably about two or three..."

"Why?" asked Katrina.

Aliscea cleared her throat. "My mother...the ruler of the Pellians, will be here on Earth personally by the end of the week. We've asked you to be a special envoy for us...for Pellias...before. Mother needs another set of ears in a very private conference to help look after our interests. I can't be there since I will be off Earth tomorrow morning with Paul in an EDF Patrol Ship heading to an undisclosed location where Paul and I are presenting a set of demands to a hostile government. This conference will be held in great secrecy at Government House in the Earth President's Office very early in the morning on Thursday. Derek and Nova Wildstar will actually be negotiating right before the President with my mother Astrena, a representative from another planet, and with a secret representative from the Gamilon Empire. You will be helping them. Are you up to this?"

Katrina's eyes filled with tears as she thought, Now it begins. They spoke of this weeks ago, but... "Yes," said Katrina. "I will assist you."

"I am glad, and we thank you," said Aliscea. "Leave us."

Aliscea looked at Paul as he said, "Aliscea, I don't trust her. You told me the other day she seems to be establishing some shady links with the Comet Empire...wouldn't that be like having the green bastards in there with us?"

"But that's what Mother and I want," said Aliscea tartly. "If she whispers this to the ears of her connections in the Cometine forces, they'll know. That's why I never called her on what I know of her involvement. She is a backchannel...a little connection we have going back and forth between Pellias and the Cometine race," said Aliscea, who was not telling Paul all she knew about Katrina. There was a good reason for this...a very, very good reason.

Astrena had learned from Trelaina who Katrina really was! And Astrena had told Aliscea, after swearing her to the greatest of secrecy. Astrena had made it very clear why in this conversation, some days ago:

"MOTHER! She's really that bitch Invidia?" snapped Aliscea.

"She is," said Astrena as they spoke together on the Astral Plane. "Trelaina told me, and I was also told that her existence is to be kept secret on Earth. She will have two great parts to play someday in our war against the Dark Lord Ekogaru."

"They are?"

"One will be as a provocateur, setting events in motion. The other will be to bring the Cometines into the war against the Nameless. But, this time, on our side. She was used by Ekogaru. Cruelly, cruelly used. She has a great personal interest in wanting to see him die. She will be very, very useful to us someday, daughter! She will also be a Right Hand to Earth when He brings His Forces there someday to attempt to destroy it."

"Destroy Earth?" said Aliscea.

Astrena nodded. "First, he intends to humiliate the Terran Race. Then, to enslave it. Then, to destroy it and turn planet Earth into nothing but a few grains of dust...along with their entire star system...even their star."

"How do we know this?"

"HE told me Himself out of His rotten, demonic, maggot-ridden mouth in a vision he taunted me with. The madman is building forces again in the Blackeye Galaxy to do this. And a new Grand Fortress. When His Grand Fortress and Fleet are complete, and when He is again embodied, HE WILL STRIKE against Earth and against ALL sentient life in the galaxies. In the end, He intends to have no one left alive but His Cyborgs, ruling over a dead universe. We have one hope. We will fight a long delaying action, up, daughter, until the day you join our ancestors in the next life. Then, the White Orchid will appear out of the ashes...out of nowhere. Invidia must live to protect her, since her greatest authority and power will be spiritual."

"But how do we stop His War Machine? By praying, Mother?"

"No. Do not be absurd! There will be a great physical battle left to bring down His War Machine, a battle where many great Generals and Admirals shall rise and fall...a battle in which Invidia shall have a great role as she reclaims something of her heritage that was lost...but the last battle will be only Him against the White Orchid and a very few of her protectors. There will also come a day, I have foreseen, where the Presidency of Earth shall fall without warning, right before the war, into the hands of one who will also appear from nowhere. No one on Earth is EVER to be told who Katrina really is. EVER, Aliscea! Earth is not to learn the truth until the TIME IS RIGHT! It is intended that right before the White Orchid arises, in the Great War, that Trelaina will personally appear on an Earth warship before the President to tell the Earth President who Katrina is."

"But can the Earth President handle that sort of thing?" demanded Aliscea. "Politicians...if this President is a typical one...he'll put Katrina right in jail to score political points...he'll have polls to satisfy...constituents to suck up to...he'll be a cynical, political, son-of-a-bitch!"

"No, Aliscea," said Astrena. "She whom we have foreseen will be President someday will not have that luxury! A President in Exile, not even a professional politician, on the run in space with a little of her Government...on the run for her very skin against Him...no...she will have no opinion polls to satisfy, and almost no one to "suck up to". She will be even more alone against Him than I was,...than I am."

"Who will she be?"

Astrena made a vision appear before Aliscea in the Astral Realm.

First, she saw a video screen in a house. The date on the screen read: JULY 1, 2231 BREAKING NEWS TERRORIST ATTACK UPON PARLIAMENT

Aliscea then saw a huge building in the center of the Tokyo Megalopolis burning as an announcer said, "We've confirned it. The destruction is complete and total. The President...the Prime Miinster...most of the Cabinet, Earth Defense Council, and Parliament..all dead. All blown apart by a massive bomb."

"Who's left of the Goverment?" said another commentator.

"Supposedly...a few low-ranking members of the Cabinet...recently appointed by the new Prime Minister and President Conway. They're both dead..."

Aliscea then heard the loud crying of a woman in the foreground as their point of view shifted to a living room Aliscea was very familiar with...she had been there numerous times...there was a bit more furniture, and a few more diplomas on a wall, but Aliscea's mouth fell open as she beheld a woman in a white and pink bathrobe crying her eyes out as her husband, in pajamas, held her close and a gentle, compassionate, grey-haired old Judge in his black judicial robes held a Bible in his hand and said, "Ma'am...you're the highest-ranking one left...we know you do not feel well, and could not be there tonight, thank God, and we know you've just suffered a horrible loss on live television, but you need to wipe away your tears and lead us now...and take the Oath..."

Aliscea bowed her head as she heard a familiar voice, hoarse with illness, softly and haltingly beginning to repeat the Oath of Office of the Presidency of the Earth Federation and she said, "I see now why we need to be so secret about Invidia now...My God...that woman...that, poor, poor woman...I agree with you. She cannot know who and where Invidia is until the time is right."

"Yes. Especially because Earth's first female President will be the one to pardon Invidia..."

Aliscea and Paul came back out to the ball a moment later...

...to find that things were turning weird, in a hurry.

Katrina was yelling, "Vat is this? You show up here in one on the gowns from the back of Nova's closet, and you, Dawn are doing what?" She noticed Dawn Hardy running around, wearing a bridesmaids' gown from a wedding Nova had attended months ago...a gown she knew Nova hadn't liked much, so she had consigned it to the back of her closet.

"Dawn?" asked Paul with raised eyebrows.

"I didn't invite her," snapped Aliscea. She turned on her heel and ran up to one of the Pellian butlers guarding the door. "You! Meshinsky! How did she get in here?"

"Lady Aliscea!" he said with a deep bow. "She showed up with a friend of hers, and she presented this invitation. It is entirely legitimate, ma'am. The woman told me that the original invitee gave it to her with the understanding she and her husband would attend."

"The Wildstars' invitation?" said Aliscea. Meshinsky nodded and looked at the note in the back, in Nova's printed handwriting. It read:

To whom this may concern:

Kindly admit the couple of Commander Jefferson Davis Hardy and Mrs. Dawn Hardy in our place tonight, since we are unable to attend due to pressing concerns in San Diego due to the recent Terrorist attack. Please admit Dawn only if she is in Commander Hardy's company, as I expect I will be.

I look forward to negotiating with you in a few days in the city and pray you will excuse this sudden breach in protocol.

I remain yours...

Your faithful Servant...

Cmdr, Nova Wildstar, EDF "Is Commander Hardy with her?" demanded Aliscea. "Where is he?"

"Ma'am, Mrs. Hardy came in with another woman, and a young man...we thought the young man was Commander Hardy...he..."

"ALL RIGHT!" yelled a drunken, giggly voice as a woman in shocking pink ran in, her high heels clicking on the floor as she ran in with a big dog on a rope.

The dog barked once and lay down, followed by a chicken and a duck. The dog looked like a drunken Saint Bernard. Caella yelled, "Ya stay there till we need ya, Brutus!"

Katrina heard that voice and snarled as soon as she noticed Caella running around. "Vat is this?" she yelled. "Vat are you doing here?"

"I remember you!" giggled Caella as she looked at Katrina. "You're my childhood friend!"

She began to run up to Katrina as she yelled. "Heeeeey, Princess! We gotta talk! And I gotta pull your hair!"

"Princess?" demanded Katrina, outraged as she stood at the buffet table near Foxy after having just speared a meatball. "Why is it that you refer to me as a Princess?"

A moment later, a giggly, drunken Dawn came up to Katrina and Foxy at the buffet table with Aliscea on her tail. "Mrs. Hardy?" demanded Aliscea. "Where is Commander Hardy? Nova only said you could attend the ball if you two are together. Where is he, and why did you bring additional people?"

"Aaaaaaaa," said Dawn as she hiccupped and grabbed a glass of wine off the table and chugged it and then threw it across the room before the shocked dancers, who were trying to avoid the stupid dog as Caella yelled, "Hey! Disk Jockey! Shigeru and I have a request! Put on Come Together! The Aerosmith version!

"Yes, dear," said the disk jockey. The quiet music came off, replaced by blasting Heavy Metal as Dawn giggled, put up one of her sandaled feet, and began grabbing food like crazy, letting a hamster loose from her purse with a grin, followed by a small snake.

Dawn giggled, "I want this, and I want this, and I want THIS!"

"Wait!" yelled Katrina. "You boorish fool! That food is for everyone, not just you!"

"And why are you here without your husband?" demanded Aliscea as the Disk Jockey took a cue from someone and stopped the music.

"We had a big fight because the kid had the Croup or some crap like that and I wanted to run, so I came out myself with Jade and we met up with Sakamoto at the airbase and then he flew us from Diego to here and now I get to look at Katrina and see how FREAKY she is!" giggled Dawn.

"Freaky?" said Katrina, who was beginning to get outraged. "What do you mean I am freaky?"

"Anyone with a face like yours is FREAKY!" squealed Dawn. "Especially because you have a snakie on your wrist!"

"A snake?" demanded Katrina, who screamed when she saw the snake on her wrist. She shook it off and said, "YOU DO NOT GET ME NEAR A SNAKE, IDIOT!"

"You callin' me an idiot, freaky?" Dawn said belligerently.

"And you are to stop calling me freaky!" demanded Katrina as Foxy looked at her and walked over and grabbed Dawn by the wrist. "You're not supposed to be here, and word has it that we have an important guest from Gamilon on the way, so, you will leave now and stop harassing my wife!" Foxy snapped. "Besides, you are so drunk it is not even funny! Aliscea?"

"Guards, would you please escort this foolish woman out, but very..." began Aliscea as Dawn screamed, slapped Foxy in the face, and turned to bellow at Katrina, "You are so freaky!"

"And you are so FAT!" snapped Katrina. "That twice-used bridesmaid gown makes you look fat! Nova told me she was contributing it to charity. Are you the poor sweet woman's fat charity case?"

"I'm not a charity case and I ain't fat!" yelled back Dawn as she threw a drink into Katrina's face and then slapped her.

Katrina snarled loudly and grabbed Dawn's wrists just as Dawn kicked her with one of the tie-on platform sandals she had on. Katrina screamed again and threw Dawn on the floor, but Dawn caught her by the hair and punched her in the face.

Katrina saw her mouth bleeding and belted Dawn as she tried to get up. Dawn screamed and tried to gouge out one of Katrina's eyes, but Katrina kicked off her sandals and kicked Dawn with a high-kick in the crotch just as some new music came up. It was a Bolero.

Some people began to applaud as a couple made a very grand entrance down a staircase as a number of Pellian...and Gamilon guards appeared.

It just happened to be Queen Astrena of Pellias...

...on the arm of Leader Desslok of Gamilon himself!

Aliscea stepped aside, mortified as she yelled, "Guards, guards! Over here! Stop this now!"

"To Desslok of Gamilon!" yelled a drunken Jade Parker as she got up on a table and made a mock toast to him. "May he always stay blue!"

"Desslok, we're so blue without you!" yelled Jessica Springer as she and Jade broke out in crazy giggles!

Then, Caella hit Brutus in the butt as Katrina and Dawn fought, and she said, "GET 'IM, Brutus!"

Brutus thus saw Desslok, snarled, and ran for him as Astrena screamed at the big barking dog's advance and hid behind her husband, too scared even to use her powers.

Desslok smiled slightly, coolly appraised the barking, crazed beast, and right before it sprang at him and Astrena, the Leader of Gamilon flipped back his cape, drew his weapon, got a quick bead on the stupid beast...

...and calmly pumped a shot into it, killing it right as it sprang at him!

"What is that thing?" demanded Katrina after she hit Dawn in the mouth and knocked out two of her teeth and then gave her a sharp kick as she just whimpered. The guards grabbed Dawn at that moment as Astrena yelled, "Desslok, what was that creature?"

Desslok blew the smoke away from his weapon, holstered it, and walked up to the dog and kicked it smartly with a jackboot. "Astrena, dear, and Miss Katrina, it used to be a dog," he said in his cool, dulcet tones. "I used to hunt wolf-like creatures like him on the highlands of Gamilon's upper crust for my amusement when I was young. If I find out who made this beast spring at me, they may be next, as no mangy dog bites Desslok of Gamilon! Now, Mrs. Katrina Foxworth-  
Savela, Pellian pilot and agent I am aware of, who is that stupid woman fighting with you? Her boorishness has just insulted me! It should also insult you, especially here on your sovereign territory..."

"She is trouble, Leader Desslok," said Katrina as she choked down bile at seeing him again even as she realized he apparently had no idea who she really was as he had addressed her as 'Katrina'. "She is Earth woman I have problems with! What will you do with her?"

"I assure you," Desslok said with a bow. "She will never trouble you again! Her very presence is an insult to me, so..."

Dawn's eyes went wide with terror as she saw Desslok calmly reaching for his weapon and realized that she was perhaps seconds away from death at the dark-eyed Emperor's hands. She began to whine with her face in her hands as she wet herself like a baby!

Astrena looked at Desslok and said, "Please don't! She's a drunken barbarian, Leader Desslok! She does not know any better!"

"Since you are not a noble savage like my Terran friends from the Argo, I will allow you to live, fool," said Desslok as Dawn looked up. "But my mercy comes only once. If ever you cross me again, your miserable life will be forfeit. I leave her to you, Astrena...," Desslok said as he turned away from Dawn with a look as if she was something nasty and vile on the bottom of his boot...a look matched by the look that Katrina gave her as, wonder of wonders, Desslok and Invidia were in full agreement on a topic for once as Desslok turned to Katrina and quietly kissed her hand before bowing to Foxy and turning away with a smart snap of his cape. Of course, if Desslok knew who Katrina really was (and neither Astrena nor Aliscea were about to tell him), Katrina would have been on the floor dead along with Brutus at this point in the dangerous, vengeful Leader's life, as he still remembered everything that House Gatlantis had done to him.

Astrena walked up to Dawn, who snarled at the queenly figure in her gown with undisguised hatred. Astrena took off a long glove, slapped her across the face with it, and said, "Guards, take this Terran away and hold her and her idiotic friends in the holding cells here in the Embassy! They are to pay dearly for their deeds and their insult to my presence and are thus and henceforth and forever persona non grata on Pellian sovereign territory anywhere in our Federation of worlds. Take them away! And catch those stupid animals!"

Dawn, Sakamoto, Caella, Jade, and Springer all found themselves yelling at each other in a cell in the basement of the Pellian Embassy a few hours later, as the cell door was opened, and a number of Pellian guards came in, along with Astrena, Aliscea, and Katrina.

Astrena looked at all of them and said, "I have been made aware of all of your deeds. You will not be held for further trial, since you are to be cast from Pellian territory, and, for those of you in the military, letters of reprimand will be sent from me to your commanders. You are henceforth persona non grata here in my domain and your will never set foot on any Pellian world, Free City, Embassy, or warship again under a suspended sentence of death. You will sign these papers undertaking to pay me a fine of two hundred thousand credits each, and then you will depart from my sight. Dawn Hardy, you will remain. I have a different penalty in mind for you," said Astrena.

"Yes, ma'am?" Dawn said in a very scared, small voice.

"Since you offended my brave pilot, Katrina Foxworth-Savela, you will make amends to her directly. She will determine your doom."

Oh my God, I am dead, thought Dawn as she looked with fear at a cold-eyed Katrina. But, the woman was smiling.

"I understand that you own, or about to own, your home?" said Katrina. "Kazuo here," she said, pointing to Foxy. "Has made me aware of that."

"Yeah...we're buying our unit at the Rio Amarillo complex from the management as a condo," said Dawn. "What is that to you?"

"The unit now belongs to me," sneered Katrina.

"What?" said Dawn, terrified.

"Yes. I now own your home, and I will hold it for two years before giving it back to you. You will pay me rent at the rate of one thousand credits per month, and I shall inspect the unit monthly, in person, to be sure it is not being abused. If you offend me or are late with your rent payments, you are evicted. Are we clear?"  
"Yes, ma;am," said Dawn, who later realized that she was getting off lightly, having to pay Katrina only twenty-four thousand credits. However, the humiliation of having her as her landlady for the next two years really made her shiver. In some measure of clarity, Dawn also thought to herself, How am I going to break this to Jeff? He was longing to own our house!

A while later, Dawn and her drinken friends all reconvened at the Wildstars' house, where the drunken party really got under way in the empty house that poor Nova had been both kind and na ve about loaning Dawn the keys to.

Dawn was several sheets to the wind, wearing only her slip while banging away at Nova's piano-  
thiser in the living room even though she could barely play the piano. She soon put the musical instrument out of tune while Jade used a magic marker to draw a moustache on a painting of Alex Wildstar that hung near Derek's bookshelves in the living room.

It reminded Dawn of a crazy night at her college sorority house or a night after cheerleading practice as Caella managed to figure out what the password was for Derek and Nova's Tri-D remote so that she and Sakamoto could access a porn flick while they rolled around drunkenly on the floor of Nova and Derek's living room getting naked with people watching them and cheering and clapping at their lewd, open progress.

Jessica Springer giggled and let the hamster from the party loose in the beautiful house. Nova would find him a week later in the bathroom crawling up inside a leg of her blue jeans while answering Nature's call.

A boyfriend of Jessica's named Chuck Michaels (a rather strange pilot) soon showed up and before long, Jessica and Chuck had run into Derek and Nova's master bedroom, where they began to avail themselves of the Wildstars' bed! They made the nice bed into a total mess as they got naked and rolled around in utter abandon on the bedspread making love.

And, thus, the partying continued into the night...

...while the phone rang and rang as Jefferson Hardy desperately tried to reach his wife, wondering if she was there or not...

...as he held David and wondered where the hell Dawn was!

Dawn came to at 0600 in the morning, wondering where the hell she was.

"What's...what's going on? I feel sick!:

Caella punched her. "We're in a Jet Recon Boat, and we've just landed in San Diego on the base. A lot of people want to talk to you, you dumb bitch! You got us all in a ton of trouble and we have to kiss a lot of fucking butts because of YOU!"

"What?" said Dawn.

She shook her head and saw the sun coming up above the open canopy. A very angry Jeff was staring right at her as he held David, acompanied by a positively livid-looking Commodore Wildstar, a fuming Nova, and an angry Deke Wakefield standing there with Lynn.

"Good morning, everyone..hee hee...you guys look kind of...mad," said Dawn weakly.

"You have not heard from Desslok or Astrena!" snapped Derek as he looked at her. "While Nova and I were supposed to be sleeping, we were up half the night negotiating Earth's way out of an interstellar diplomatic incident!"

"You were only supposed to go to the ball with Jeff!" Nova snapped. "Not with your...drunken girlfriends...and you were NOT to leave them into OUR HOUSE! Damnit, when I gave you the key to my house, Dawn..I trusted you! I trusted that you and Hardy would treat the place with the same respect Deke and Sasha do when they stay over! It appears I've made the biggest mistake of my life now...trusting you to take care of our house when you went and wrecked it after we just bought it from the Government to renovate it and add on rooms! Do you know how many times I've had to apologize to Derek for being na ve enough to think you would behave? Now I can never trust you in there again, Dawn! Not with the way you and your idiot friends wrecked our place!"

"How...how...did ya hear?" said Dawn.

"Easy," Deke snapped. "Sandor showed up at the house after a burglar alarm went off in the garage. A drunken Astro-Fighter pilot was found out there trying to break into Commodore Wildstar's aircar!"

"Then Steve and Diane found the rest of the mess you made of MY BEAUTIFUL HOUSE!" Nova cried as tears of rage ran down her face as she held back the urge to just slap Dawn across the face. "You are going to pay for the repairs to my electric piano, young lady! And you will get my wedding dress cleaned, especially because you were walking around in it dead drunk slopping a glass of my Cooking Sherry on it! My wedding dress is intended for Ariel to wear someday...and for me to wear in my casket when I'm dead!"

"How did you know that...I can't remember it?" moaned Dawn.

"Security cameras in our house that go on automatically when none of us are home," Derek snapped. "And you are getting an art restorer to fix the painting Sandor painted of my brother!"

"And you are not allowed out of our house for the next two weeks except to go to classes!" yelled Jeff. "And you are going to learn to mother our baby!"

"And you are going to Alcoholics Anonymous!" cried Lynn.

"And you are writing Desslok a letter of apology!" hissed Nova. "And you are getting our living room rug cleaned, SAKAMOTO!"

"And you are going to grow up now, or else!" snapped Derek as he jabbed a finger into Dawn's chest. Nova, significantly, did not stop him!

Dawn looked at the angry circle of people...even Sakamoto and Caella were angry at her (because the Wildstars had ranked them out for their role in the hijinks while she was out, as well!) Then, everyone got up and walked off, talking amongst themselves.

Then, all she did was began to cry.

She was left to cry in the Jet Recon Boat.

Alone.

VII. MRS. HARDY'S DOWNFALL

Earth

The San Diego Megalopolis

Wednesday, June 15, 2208

1302 Hours Local Time

Dawn Hardy was now just about barely free.

The Wildstars had held back on criminal mischief charges against Dawn and the others because she had agreed to pay for everything, having been forced to withdraw much of her own savings that she had accumulated for several years to repay all of the people she had angered.

She had to see a psychiatrist three times a week now and see a psychologist every two days. Jeff made her keep those appointments.

He made it clear to her that if she did anything again...a jail term might be waiting for her...or a long stay in a psychiatric ward.

And Jeff made it clear that if she ever pulled anything like that again...HE would walk away from her and separate...taking David with him! Nova had helped him quietly accumulate some rationed baby formula, for that very purpose. She also refused to nurse David any longer, and she had asked Sasha to do the same. Dawn could only nurse during the day now, when the concentrations of the psychiatric drugs she now had to take were low in her system.

"And if we separate?" sniffed Dawn that morning as they came out of the psychiatrist's office.

"Then, Dawm, Ah may have to reconsider the very wisdom of this marriage," said Jeff in a low voice. "Wildstah is so pissed at me that you would not believe it. Nova talks to me, but barely. She even asked me 'why can't you control her?' She asked Lynn the same thing."

"I don't know, Jeff...I don't know...maybe I wasn't ready to be a mother, okay?"

"No excuse," said Jeff.

"Jeff?"

"Look at our circle of friends for a minute," said Hardy. "Mostly my friends, because you have ticked off so many people that it is not even funny. Derek and Nova are practically the only ones in our group who wanted a family. The timin' just ended up bein' off. What we have is that Derek is an execptionally good father and Nova adores her children and juggles motherhood along with all her otuh duties. I do not know how she does it, but she is the best mother in our Group, and her kids are talkin' and walkin' befoah anyone else's! Sasha and Deke's baby was an accident like ours, yet Star is so doted ovuh by her mother that it is just incredible! That baby is loved and really wanted! And Wendy and Homer are about to have twins! And even Angie Hartcliffe's baby is being loved to death by his mothuh and his stepfather Clive! And then, there's me...and there's you! Dawn, you lost one of our babies. Why don't you love the one we have left?"

"Jeff, I DO love him!" she snapped, looking downright petulant in her summer outfit.

"You don't act like it, sad to say," sighed Jeff. "Look at the way you're holding him now, for heaven's sakes! He's cute! That blond hair that's getting' darker, his little Black Tiger outfit, his little face...his ten little fingers...his ten little toes, that little cry of his? Dawn, our son's a sweet baby that you made!"

"WE made," said Dawn. "Takes two to tango, Jeff!"

"Then why do you dislike him so much?" sighed Jeff.

Dawn stared hard at him and said, "Maybe I should have realized my teenage years were over with when I found out Deke had her. Her...meaning that damned Sasha! Everyone loves her!" Dawn whined. "You hear what they all say! 'She's special! She has powers! She's the future of Earth and Iscandar! She's pretty! She's sexy! She has the perfect husband!' Jeff, she makes me sick! The only other two people who make me sicker are her Aunt Nova, who was the person who was born being able to do everything and anything, and that Goddamned weird Katrina, whom everyone loves even though no one seems to know why because she is the most abrasive and nasty piece of shit I've ever met!" Dawn raged. "Why do we love someone that creepy? At least Mrs. Aunt Hypocrite Space Poet Nova tries to be nice, even though to me it seems 'so condescending'!"

"All right," sighed Hardy. "You're jealous of Deke, jealous of Sasha, jealous of Katrina, and jealous as hell of Nova!"

"And to top it off, Sasha and Nova have figures I'd die to have!" yelled Dawn. "I wish I could look that downright cute every time I strip down and bare my boobs to nurse him!"

"Okay...you're jealous," said Jeff. "Forget them for a minute. You are downright cute! But what are you doing to improve Dawn Westland Hardy?" he demanded. "You've screwed up so much of your life in the past month, ain't even funny," he said. "But you still have me, David, most of your money, your freedom, and a career you can go back to once you straighten out your life," said Hardy. "You're in a flat spin right now, but if you pull up your nose and recover and fly right, you can get out of it. Just like me in my Tiger," he said.

"I'll think about it," Dawn said as she bowed her head.

"Good," said Jeff with a smile. He kissed her and whispered, "You look downright hot in those short shorts, tube top, and little flip-flops," he said. "Wanna take it all off tonight when you nurse David? Then after you run around our townhouse naked with him, because you know it turns me on when you do that...you put him to bed...we can go to bed. And catch up on some serious stuff," he whispered in her ear as he kissed her.

Then, Jeff looked around, pulled her close, and felt under the waist band of her shorts. He whispered, "Looks like someone forgot their panties today...that little butt feels so cute..."

"You like it better than David's?" Dawn whispered.

"Hell, yeah," said Hardy.

"Thank you, Jeff...I'll remember that," whispered Dawn as she got up on tiptoe in her thongs to kiss him. Then, they went off together as Jeff rested his hand affectionately on Dawn's tail.

It seemed as if their marriage was again beginning to heal up.

If only that were so for them...

VIII. THE LAST STRAW

Earth

The Tokyo Megalopolis

Government House

President James Mendellsohn's Office

Friday, June 17, 2208

1302 Hours Local Time

Leader Desslok of Gamilon sipped at the wine in his goblet as Talan, President Mendellsohn, Prime Minister Gonjin, Commodore Derek Wildstar, and Nova Wildstar sat with Astrena watching Desslok sip at the wine. Sasha was also there, represemting Iscandar, as she sat there with Deke. Katrina and Foxy also sat there, assisting Astrena in the representation of Pellias in the meeting. Thankfully, Desslok was still unaware of who Katrina really was. He thought her accent sounded somewhat hauntingly familiar, but he had heard plenty of Pellian officials with similar accents as he and Astrena had been working with the Pellian High Command to actually cede them a planet in the Gamilon-Garuman Empire...and they were also working with Radnar and House Gatlantis to turn over a Cometine world in the Great Magellenic Cloud to the Pellians!

The Gamilon world would be for a base and shipyard for the wandering Pellian Fleet, and the Cometine planet would be used as a possible New Pellias...a homeworld for the Pellians at long last. Katrina had started a little but hit it well when she discovered that the Cometine planet was a small world known as Calbrisa...which had been one of her father's last conquests before they had turned their sights on Planet Earth years ago.

"Excellent vintage, Nova. I thank you," Desslok purred as Katrina excused herself and left the office for a moment, escorted out by a Secret Service official.

Nova stood up, resplendent in a pretty royal blue dress with a scoop neck, and she bowed and smiled. "Thank you, Desslok. How did you like our house last night?"

"A little small and disorganized compared to my Palace on Gamilon, but I see you and Derek have a very happy and tasteful little house. Your custom of wearing house slippers or going shoeless in your house is curious, but I guess it keeps your rugs clean?"

"It's a local custom of Great Island," said Derek.

"You remember we do something similar on Iscandar," said Sasha, who stood up in her sundress, holding a magazine she had found on the President's desk. Desslok noticed she was barely shod in light sandals, and that her gauzy dress seemed to be as light as a dream. He smiled a little at Wakefield, who stood and held Sasha protectively before she sat down.

"I do it in my home," said Prime Minister Gonjin. He and his wife lived in a traditional Japanese house with quite a few tatami rooms and some wood-and-paper inner walls. Nova had been there once and had liked it; she had it in her head to have a room like that built in the addition they were planning for their house in the Megalopolis; the house she had purchased from the Earth Government and had largely partially paid for already by selling part of her stock portfolio.

"It's sort of cute," said Astrena. Dellar was back home on Gamilon with his governesses, so Desslok and Astrena had actually slept in Derek and Nova's guest room the previous night, and they would do so again tonight before touring the Argo and then leaving Earth at high speed in his new Command Cruiser, the Gamilstadt II, which he had brought with a small fleet because it was a bit more manueverable and easier to hide than his huge Imperial Battleship Excelsior.

The Gamilstadt II was actually on Earth, having landed in an underground dock in Yokosuka next to the Arizona by night the previous night. The larger dock next to the Arizona was being repaired and rebuilt to become the new secure secret dock for the Argo herself, which would leave San Diego in the dead of night sometime next month when her repairs neared completion. The Star Force and maintenance personnel were already altered to the move so that the permanent party people who needed to be with the ancient battleship could resettle in the Great Megalopolis.

Desslok remembered all of these things...Derek and Nova had discussed them with him and Astrena over dinner in their house. He smiled at them, and asked, "Before we get back to negotiating, why is it that you have only one robotic servant in your home? Someone in your honored position should have more..."

"Yes. Wouldn't you have more servants?" Talan said.

"We don't need them," Derek said.

"Desslok, Talan, you've seen that I like to do things for myself," Nova said. He had caught her cooking dinner with a frilly apron on over her simple tube top and shorts, worn with her hair in a ponytail while she had wooden house sandals on her feet.

"You looked a bit like a teenage house servant handing out the food on those simple earthenware plates you use," purred Desslok. He added, to himself only, You enchanting little barbarian...quite estheticially pleasing for someone less advanced than we...

"Yes, my best china!" Nova snapped. "And I was up late the other night polishing all of the silver for you," she added, pushing back her chair and stretching out her bare legs under her sky-blue dress, worn with a matching choker and the white open-toe pumps that went with her summer Headquarters Uniform. "Let's get back to the negotiations, please!" She was blushing a bit as she hoped that Desslok would not mention how he had caught her in the yard, her top partially down, nursing Ariel in her lap.

"Yes, those," said Desslok. Desslok looked at President Mendellsohn and Derek and said, "It appears that we have to expand our joint defense to include the contingency of attacks by this Bolar Federation and by this terrorist world Spectra. Incidentially, we have finished our first scientific survey of your Sun. It appears that you were all very fortunate."

"Explain," said the President as Katrina came back into the room, nodded at Foxy, and sat down next to him.

"We are, of course, initimately familiar with the uses and capabilities of proton missiles," said Desslok. "Both our own and some captured samples of the Bolars' handiwork. We have tested our missiles recently on uninhabited planets and even star systems. In one case, firing off a missile into a G-class star like your primary Sol caused an incredible increase in fusion that soon went off the scale. The star in the test system that we used is even now beginning to expand into a red giant and it has consumed one of its innermost planets already. We attempted another similar test with two captured Bolar weapons. We have found that Bolar proton missiles are, at best, crude copies of ours and the sort used by the Rikashan Federation. Their detonators have a tendency not to work very well," said Desslok as he sipped at his wine.

"A most unaesthetic and vile means of destruction. One missile of theirs we used had a detonator that didn't even work correctly when it hit the test star we used. In your parlance, it was a 'dud'," purred Desslok. "Our test was performed six months ago. The test star simply is roiling away right now in a somewhat hyperactive state a just little worse than a standard stellar maximum sunspot cycle. Temperatures on the test planet in its habitable zone are about eighty to ninety Karak in our system of temperature measurement, which equates to around thrty-nine degrees Centigrade to about one hundred and five to one hundred and twenty five degrees Fahrenheit in your scales. This may go one for between one year to maybe five years in your system of temporal measurments, with the usual violent weather that sometimes results."

"So, you're saying, it's not that bad?" said a sweating Prime Mnister Gonjin.

"You have escaped a major cataclysm," said Talan. "Consider yourselves fortunate," he said.

"Wow, so I won't lose my money," said Foxy as Katrina slapped him on the wrist. "Foxy one! We are before the PRESIDENT of Earth!"

"Him, I know," sniffed President Mendellsohn with a laugh. He had actually offered Foxy a post in his Administration years ago but he had turned it down. However, he still called upon Kazuo at times for advice on various sticky matters (which was how Kazuo "Foxy" Foxworth-Savela had gotten into this high-level secret meeting which didn't even formally exist on any Government register). Foxy would stay Connected after President Mendellsohn left office, and he would end up being a failrly close advisor to two more Presidents in the future...and one of a small group of very close advisors to another future President who would serve in one of Earth's very darkest hours...an hour that Astrena could forsee even now as she shut her eyes and gazed into the future in her spirit.

"So, you're saying we were hit by a 'dud?" Derek said.

"Exactly," said Talan.

"Summing it up," said President Mendellsohn. "We're now in a low-level war with the Bolar Federation, R'Khell, and Spectra."

Katrina then added, "Yes. They've been attacking Pellian shipping, all three of those accursed powers, and ve have some word they've even dared to attack some of Radnar's ships."

"Yes, Radnar informed me of that," Desslok said. "Radnar feels they're quite mad. Luckily, he is aiding us."

Sasha then said, "And Mother told me an Iscandarian survey corvette was attacked four days ago! Those bastards are after all of us!" she cried, banging a fist on the President's desk.

"Dear...please remember where we are," Nova said nervously as she stood up and held Sasha's fist. "Even though I am not in disagreement with you."

"Meaning?" snapped Talan.

Nova got a look on her face as if she was about to spit out some distasteful fish bone and she said, "I agree with Sasha...that they're...bastards. We've got to do something!"

"Let's hire some of our own pirates, hon," Derek quipped. "I hear rumors that the Great Pirate Harlock has his price."

"That sounds horrible, Derek!" Nova said. "Even though the mysterious Space Pirate Captain Harlock is a decent man. We haven't seen him for many years, ever since the war with Rikasha." Nova had sort of a soft spot for Harlock, remembering how he had rescued her and Derek from being hanged back on Heavy Melder during the war.

"We could revive the custom of using Letters of Marque, sir," said Prime Minister Gonjin. "If anyone can contact Harlock, that is. I don't believe he has a published phone number on the Arcadia, sir."

"WE already use Letters of Marque, as much as it disgusts me," Desslok said. "I gain some of my best information from mercenaries..."

Later on, Desslok, Astrena, Talan, Derek and Nova, and Deke and Sasha returned back to the Wildstars' home.

After another dinner made by Nova, Talan ended up in the living room in the conversation pit having a conversation with Derek and Deke. Sasha had momentarily disappeared, along with Desslok and Astrena.

Nova came out guiding along Alex and Ariel (borth of whom were walking, or...running quite well) as Nova (now barefoot for the house) said, "Guys, I'm going to be a while. I'm getting the kids their bath and then, they'll get the pajamas on for bed. See you in a while."

"Okay," said Derek. Talan nodded, stating, "Leader Desslok and I will depart and return to our flagship in the morning...we thank you for your hospitality." Nova smiled and said "You're welcome" as she disappeared.

A few minutes later, Nova disappeared into their master bedroom with Alex and Ariel. In there, with some squirming and giggling, she undressed the two toddlers for their bath and then undressed herself, putting on only a towel over herself.

Nova then went towards the bathroom that adjoined their bedroom, carrying a whimpering Ariel in her arms as she adjusted and spread open her towel a bit on her right side, baring a bit of her right side, and her right breast, which was what Ariel had been whimpering for. A picture of contentment, the semi-naked young mother carried Ariel into the bathroom as she encouraged Alex to go ahead...

...until she got in there and Alex saw what was going on as he said, "Mommy! Lookie! Uncle Desslok's in tubbie!"

Nova just gasped as she looked on and saw Desslok languidly lying back in the tub against Astrena, who was rubbing tension out of his shoulders and chest.

He looked up at Nova and said, "Oh? Did we surprise you? We love your bath, Nova. I'm sorry. We should have made you aware we wished to use it, but you did say 'make yourself at home?'"

"Yes, I did..." Nova said. Both Desslok and Astrena smiled at her as she began to blush from her shoulders down to her toes with embarrassment. The blush only grew deeper as Nova knelt down a bit on the floor to try to coax Alex away from splashing at the water as she said, "No, dear...we don't want to play splashie games with Uncle Desslok and Auntie Astrena...this isn't Daddy or Jonathan in the tub waiting to play with you!" Nova then gasped as Alex turned around and pulled her towel off her, making Nova nude before the Gamilon Leader and Pellian Queen right before he turned around and grabbed at her other breast and latched on. Her blush grew much deeper as she stood up, holding Alex and Ariel as they nursed at her bare breasts while she said, "Uhh...I'm so sorry...please excuse me...he can't help doing that...the poor dear's just hungry!" Nova looked embarrassed, but Desslok could see her eyes twinkling with an unvarnished love for her son as she stroked his thigh and little bottom as he cuddled skin-to-skin against her mother and nursed. He was impressed to see that Nova seemed to have no anger in her about her children's antics. He guessed that she was generally very patient with them and their foibles.

"You offended no one, Nova," Desslok said with a smile. "You are the lady of the house and have the absolute right to wear...or not wear... whatever you desire in your own home..."

"I've done that all the time with Dellar," Astrena added. "At one point, he had such a growth spurt that he just wanted my breasts almost all the time for about three days, so I pretty much gave up and just went naked for the latter part of those three days. That's a bit of what you remind me of now, Nova. Myself when I was younger," Astrena said before she kissed Desslok. "Given what you are doing, that is a perfectly honorable and natural state to perform your mothering in. You actually look rather enchanting and cute! I'll bet that the good Commodore thinks you're adorable when you walk about like that..."

"Uhh...he does, Astrena...thank you," Nova said as she tried not to meet Desslok's eyes. They looked rather amused, and he was smiling slightly as he said, "Nova, in case you have forgotten...I marked that you have another bathroom down the passage near their nursery. You may wish to take them there...and I second Astrena's comments. And, if I may take the liberty of adding a comment, a young woman as aesthetically formed as you need not show any embarrassment at being seen unclothed. You have nothing at all to be embarrassed about, Nova."

"Thank you, Desslok," Nova said with a little bow of her head. Then, still blushing, but holding up her head, she said, "Kids, let's go take our bathie time in the other room...okay?"

Nova left, hearing Desslok laughing softly as she padded out of the room on her bare feet. After she left, Astrena said, "Remember, Desslok...the Terrans are a bit more squeamish about nudity than we are. Although I must say that I noticed a bt of a suntan on her before she began blushing like crazy? She has no tan marks on her form, so she must obviously enjoy sunning herself in her natural state."

"I've seen the way the dear Commodore looks at her," Desslok said. "The attraction and magnetism between them is perfectly obvious. And I told you of that day on my flagship. After she pointed a weapon at me, she actually covered Wildstar with her own body as a shield rather than allowing me to harm him as they mourned over the state of their Earth, which had just been conquerered by Zordar. Their love is a very pure, sweet thing. And those children are pert, a bit annoying, perhaps, but adorable. And given how Nova looks at her Derek, there will probably be more coming soon unless this squalid low-level conflict intervenes." Desslok sighed and said, "It will take some time, Astrena, as we have these other enemies to deal with on many other battlefronts, but I should like to prepare some harsh words for our eventual envoy to share with the Spectrans, backed up by harsher actions if they do not cease and desist from their madness?"

"And those are?" asked Astrena.

"Perhaps a test or two of a proton missile might be in order?" purred Desslok."Anything to aid our allies so they can have their children and rebuild this world's population in peace..." Then, Desslok smiled.

In the distance, he could just barely make out, coming through several walls, the soft sounds of toddlers giggling and splashing water as, with his keen Gamilon hearing, could just about make out Nova singing a funny song to her son...and her daughter. Then, he guessed Commodore Wildstar had come in, for he could make out his laughter followed by Nova's as he and Astrena could hear her singing (through some laughter):

Alexander went wee on Daddy!  
Ariel loves to poop on Mommy!  
You two sometimes barf on the floor!  
And you guys kick at the door!  
At Three AM!  
For Mommy and Daddy!  
What are we gonna do with you?  
You're making Daddy pull out all of his hair!  
And you guys love to strip Mommy bare!  
Oh, Lord I haven't a bloody clue!  
What are Daddy and I gonna do with you?

"Such is life with young children, my Lady," said Desslok with a smile. "I wonder when she's going to begin singing about the mocking bird?"

Later on that evening, after everyone had retired to bed, Sasha sat naked in their guest room with little Star, whom she was burping after she had given her a breast to suckle on.

Deke took off his glasses and his boxer shorts and began to kiss Sasha as hs cuddled up with her on the beanbag chair that Nova had left in there for her to sit on as she nursed Star. Nova herself had a similar chair in her bedroom, for the same purpose. Both chairs had a sort of faux-  
suede covering, which felt very nice against a nursing mother's near-nude or nude body in the privacy of the bedroom.

Eventually, after Sasha put Star to bed, the Princess and her surfer pilot husband ended up in their bed, kissing, cuddling, and laughing softly as they unabashedly began to make love to each other.

After a while, Sasha ended up lying back against Deke, letting her toes curl as she sighed with utter pleasure as he teased her breasts and unclothed privates from behind, finally taking her that way as he entered her while he played with her breasts as she took the lead and rode him.

"Oh...my God..." she said. "Deeeekkeeeee...my Deeeekeeeee! OHHH!"

"Yeah?"

"Ohhhhhhhh," moaned Sasha in an almost feral fashion as she enjoyed herself and let herself get hotter and hotter as she rode Deke and let him play wth her breasts and nipples as he made wild, wild love to her as Star slept. Then, with her fine Iscandarian hearing, she shivered with Deke in her bond as she heard her Aunt Nova crying out "derek...my God...yessssss! OH!" through the walls, and she figured out that Auntie and Uncle were engaged in the very same activity that they were!

I hope no one else can hear us! Sasha thought as she gasped and cried out as Deke brought her closer and closer to a hot, shivering climax as she screamed, "Deeekeeee! Don't stop! DEEEEKKKEEE!"

Finally, she cried out in happy, happy abandon as she exploded with pleasure. Deke followed, and then, when they were done, Sasha lay there and cuddled Deke, and said, "Oh, I love you...I love you so much!"

"Me too," he said.

Sasha sat up as she could hear her Uncle and Aunt continuing to go at it. She could also feel the psychic energy they were shooting out through their love like video-screen static. Obviously, like most mere humans very deeply in love, they were quite unaware of the fact that their happy vibrations could be...felt by others. "Do you hear anything, Deekee?"

"Nah, must be their cat running around...or something," Deke said. Sasha smiled, glad that he couldn't hear her Uncle and Nova...while amused that she could. They must be awfully frisky in there tonight, Sasha thought with amusement.

A moment later, the internal intercom system in the Wildstars' house "dinged" in Deke and Sasha's guest room. Sasha got up, threw on a sleep shirt over her nakedness, and answered as she motioned for Deekee to be quiet. "Yes?" she said.

"Good evening, my Princess," purred Desslok over the speaker. "I'm glad you answered. As a part-Iscandarian, I take it you have the same acute hearing that Gamilons and Pellians possess?"

"Yes, I do," said Sasha with a blush. Then, she said, "Could you...uh...hear us? We're so sorry...we tried to be quiet..."

"I heard some things. They sounded pleasant, shall we say?" said Desslok as he cuddled Astrena. Neither of them had on any clothing, either, and they had been up to the same thing as all of the other couples in the large house! Astrena had put a Shell of Silence around them so no one could hear. This was a Pellian psionic ability that she was able to call up at will; and it was a skill that would be learned many years later by exactly one unexpected person after an amazing series of events that Astrena was beginning to foresee in clearer and clearer detail every day. He then said, "The problem, if it is one, that you and I, I believe...are able to hear our honored host and hostess? Has this ever happened before?"

"We've stayed here a few times, but I've never been able to hear them as clearly as tonight," Sasha whispered. "I've almost begun to think that maybe we should go out...to a diner for an hour or two...all of us?"

"Sasha, are you absurd?" Desslok said. "How, pray tell, do you hide me in a diner? Unfortunately, I am rather tall and very conspicuious here on Earth," he said. "Perhaps we can..." Then, Desslok sat amused in his bed as he listened. Then, he said in a whisper, "My nibs is finally done. The poor woman. Nova would be mortified and would hide in the basement if we told her that we could hear her and Wildstar...making music together. Even though they are very cute."

"We have to forget this," said Sasha with a blush as she heard Astrena yawning.

"I may remember it," Desslok said.

"WHY?" cried Sasha.

"What if I have to pressure them?" he whispered. "Now I have one innocent bit of blackmail material to use against them. I know exactly what they sound like, when they..."

Sasha shushed Desslok with a hiss as she heard a tap on the door. Deke hid himself further under the covers as Sasha opened the door.

Nova stood there wearing only one of Derek's Star Force shirts with a concerned look on her face. "Sasha?" she said. "Did you hear any noise from the nursery?"

"No, Auntie..I think it's just Fluffy running around," she said, referring to Derek and Nova's little white cat. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, Ariel's been trying to climb out of her crib lately," Nova said. "She nearly did it one night, too. The little dear wants to be able to run into our room...I think. But you two can appreciate we need our privacy," Nova added as she blushed deeply. "So let me go see if she's...okay. Poor Derek. Your Uncle is half-dead from lack of sleep because he's so worried about the politicial situation. So am I. That's why we can't sleep," Nova said in a little white lie. It was a half-truth because they couldn't sleep, but Nova felt no one needed to know what they were trying to do to make each other tired. "Do you guys want anything to eat? I can make some sandwiches. Even though it is four in the morning..."

"That's fine, Auntie. Check on the babies and go back to sleep," Sasha said as she blew her Aunt a kiss. "Nightie-night, Aunt Nova."

"Good night, Sasha...Deke...Star," Nova said as she knelt by Star's little portable bed and kissed the tiny sleeping baby on the forehead. It was something Star would become familiar with when she got older and enjoyed her Auntie's special nighty-night kisses when Nova would sometimes watch her for Sasha and Deke.

After Nova left, Desslok said, "I heard her. Was she slightly dissheveled?"

"Well, she just had on one of his shirts and she was barefoot," Sasha giggled in a whisper. "Her hair was very messed up and I think I saw a little hickey around the top of her collar. It was so cute..."

"Nice to know," said Desslok. "Well, good night..."

Back in San Diego, time passed, and Desslok left the Megalopolis and returned to his flagship with Astrena the next day after their shuttle left the Gamilon Embassy, looking like a routine flight to one of the colony platforms orbiting the Earth, although it was heading to meet the Gamilstadt II, which had left Earth the previous evening in the dead of night and was secretly orbiting the Earth. One of the colonies was a large facility being built with the aid of the Gamilons, and the shuttle "stopped over" there just lomg enough to allow Desslok to inspect his troops before he returned to his cruiser flagship.

It was about 1300 Hours, Local Time, on Friday, June 18th, 2208, when a Jet Recon boat came to a landing at the air base near the docks where the Argo lay. It was the Wildstar family; Derek, Nova, Alex, Ariel, and Jonathan, flying from the Tokyo Megalopolis, where it was 0600 Hours, Earthtime on Saturday, June 19th.

They found Hardy there in the canteen with little David, looking very annoyed as the young family went in together. "Where's Dawn?" asked Derek.

"We had a big argument again!" snapped Jeff as he sat there with David near him in a stroller. "I'm sorry to tell ya this, but I'm about to call my parents. My mom and dad, who have never met Dawn, want to give her a real good talking-to. Especially mah mother."

"I remember your mother," Nova said. "My God, I remember your mother, Jeff! Mrs. Juliet Hardy. Magnolia with a spine of steel!"

"Where'd we meet her?" Derek asked.

"Our wedding?" Nova said as she gestured at Derek in a slightly peeved fashion after handing Ariel to Jonathan. "You forgot already?"

"Sorry, Nova...uhh...we must have had half the planet there. I don't have your photographic memory for faces."

"It's hard to miss Mrs. Juliet Hardy," Nova said. "Long brown hair, intense dark eyes, very energetic, handles administrative stuff very well at the plantation, beautiful Southern accent...and I get the impression that if you cross her, may God help you!"

"Okay, what does Mister Hardy look like?" Derek asked.

Jefferson then said, "My father, Nathaniel Clinton Hardy, runs a medium-sized Georgia plantation in Tarrant County manned by mostly ag-robots known as Victoria. It has a main house with four pillars down a tree-lined drive. My father himself is taller than I am, very refined, very quiet, and he has chestnut brown hair going grey at the temples. He is very down to Earth, loves the plantation and farming, but does not care that much about the social aspects unless Mother makes him host a ball or cotillon there. He likes his whiskey and cigars, but in moderation. Last time I saw him, he was workin' on a moustache, and was takin' to wearing a hat."

"I remember he was quite the gentleman," Nova said. "He knew my father once?"

Jefferson nodded. "A long time ago, before we were even born. He said it was around the time they were in the Academy together..."

Derek said, "The problem is...can we help Dawm?"

"Yes, Derek...that's the big problem," Nova said, looking very grim as she spoke. "Especially since at times she does not want to accept or receive our help?"

LATER THAT EVENING...  
AT RANCHO CARNE HIGH SCHOOL...

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" called out the disk jockey at the Saturday night dance, which would be the last dance of the school year at Rancho Carne High School in San Diego. The Class of 2208 was set to graduate next week, and the students clapped, laughed, and applauded as Lex Talmadge, a Big Man on Campus, who was smart, strong, and recruited to play football at the Space Fighters' Training School, did a move and yelled, "Let's go, ladies and gentlemen! Which one of you is going to be joining the EDF this next year to fight those alien sons-of-bitches?"

A lot of cheers went up, as one of the girls in the typical group of dancing students (where most of the girls were at one side of the gym, and the guys were at the other side of the gym) jumped up and yelled, "Let's get all those guys! And let's make the Gamilons pay, too! Damn blue Gamilon bastards!"

The girl next to her, who had sunglasses on, along with an artsy-looking peasant blouse in white and black, blue t-shirt, grey cargo jeans, and pink flip-flops, cringed a little and said, "I don't know if they're all like that..."

"What are you? Some kind of LIBERAL?" yelled the girl, who was dressed in a skirt, Letterman's coat in gold and purple with a cheerleader's emblem on it, and seemed to be a little drunk. The girl in the peasant blouse figured out that she had been at the punch bowl. Most definitely spiked and turned into Gamilon Sea Water Punch, thought the "teenager", who was really thirty years old but sometimes felt like she was sixty inside.

"No, just someone who sees things differently. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm looking for my friends," she said.

"Ain't no friend of mine, ya liberal BITCH!" yelled the drunken cheerleader as she yelled, "Where's that weird girl I was dancing with?"

In the meantime, the "weird girl", who had waist-length blonde hair, and burgundy-brown eyes, danced a dance with her 'steady" for the night, a guy with wild-looking surfer's hair, glasses, a Letterman's jacket with band and Junior Space Cadet Corps emblems on it, along with the emblems of his other sports as he whispered, "You find her yet? Hardy's getting worried..."

"This is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life, Deekee," she whispered as she looked around. "Why don't they stop these kids from hitting that punch bowl? Why don't they check it?"

"Sasha," whispered Deke Wakefield. "They have five hundred kids in here...and four chaperones, most of whom are trying to keep couples from going too far on the dance floor, and..."

"I didn't find her yet," said the "artsy" girl as she ran up.

"Nova, ya gotta look harder," whispered Deke.

"I usually have a good memory for faces," Nova Wildstar whispered. "Go above four hundred in one night and even I start to go fuzzy."

"Hardy said we're supposed to be looking for a girl in a skirt and Rancho Carne High letterman's jacket with flip-flops," Sasha whispered.

"Matches a quarter of the girls here," Deke said, as it hit him that, several years ago, if someone told him he would be coming back to Rancho Carne High to look for Dawn for someone else, accompanied by a famous, cute combat veteran of the Star Force whom he was also related to by marriage, and a drop-dead gorgeous half-Iscandarian Princess that he just happened to be married to...he would have asked them, "What are you smoking, man?"

Finally, Deke's heart dropped when he heard loud, braying laughter. "Found her," he said,

"All I hear is a dopey-sounding girl laughing, Deekee," said Sasha.

"That's her, all right," groaned Deke. "You were never around her when she decided to go wacko at dances and sometimes embarrassed me when we were dating. Fun, fun, fun until Daddy takes the T-Bird away was her motto at times..."

"What's a T-Bird?" said Sasha with a blank look on her face. On Iscandar, they had no such thing as Ford Thunderbirds.

Nova looked at her and whispered, "Remind me to teach you about classic cars one of these days. I'm working on restoring a Fiat and you really have to get your hands dirty under the hood with me."

"What kind of hood?" Sasha said.

Nova threw up her hands and sighed as suddenly, the laughter grew louder...

...and Dawn ran right out of the crowd to face Deke!

She had on a Letterman's jacket (her old one) with a blue t-shirt, short, rumpled, pleated miniskirt, and black flip-flops (like about two thirds of the girls there; this was, after all, June, and a very hot one at that). She ran right up to Deke, pushed aside Sasha without even an apology, and said, "Hi, Deekee! Let's close-dance!"

"No," said Deke firmly, as he noticed she had on her damn Star Pendant. "Dawn, we are not in 2201 any more," he said as she took his hands and almost began to drag him across the dance floor, stopping to wink at Sasha...

...and then to step right on her bare toes in her brown sandals as she said, "Hi, Iscanadian Floozie! Let me have my boyfriend back, at least for now!"

Dawn breathed in Deke's face, and he recoiled.

While Sasha angrily rubbed her toes, Dawn looked at Deke and cried, "Deekee, what's wrong?"

"Dawn, you smell like a friggin' distillery! Nova has the car, and she's not drinking anything but soda tonight. Let's cut the crap and take you home to Jeff, Dawn! You can't go back to high school, and that's that!"

"YEAH?" yelled Dawn as they escorted her out. "Deke, High School was better than my life right now!" she yelled. "I had you, a crazy person. Now I have a guy from Georgia who is too nice, a kid I do not quite want or enjoy, and a job on Earth that I hate...and I'm fat!"

"Nice we agree on something," smirked Sasha.

"Sasha!" snapped Deke.

"Well, she is getting fat!" laughed Sasha.

That set Dawn off.

Dawn snarled like a crazy woman, jumped out of her flip-flops, and she tackled Sasha in the grass as she began to punch her in the face, knocking Sasha out of her backless sandals. "I'll mess up your face!" she screamed as she punched away on top of Sasha, who cursed and yelled as she pulled Dawn's hair. Deke was impressed that his Tigress had some claws as she grabbed Dawn and the two crazed women yelled in the grass like two fighting cats, yellling, cursing, snarling and punching at each other as Nova tried to see if she could separate the two crazed young women as the kids outside began to clap and yell. Other kids ran into the gym as others came out, yelling, "THERE'S A FIGHT!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" chanted the kids as a teacher ran up to Nova and said, "Who started it?"

"They both did," Nova said, confused, and angry as the teacher grabbed her arm. Nova pulled away, screaming a little as she pushed the teacher and then stepped back as the teacher said, "Whoever YOU are, young lady, you're not going to graduate! I'll see to it!"

"I'm not a high school student and neither are they!" Nova snapped as she opened her purse and shoved her EDF ID card in the fat teacher's surprised face as he took in the famous name and rank and the ID picture of Nova in her Star Force uniform. "I'm one of the commanding officers of these...girls...and I'm responsible for both of them since neither my XO or Captain are here!"

"Take care of them, ma'am," said the teacher. "I'll get Principal Melman!"

"Who's he?" Nova asked as she tried to get between Sasha and Dawn.

"Our principal when we were going to school here," Deke snapped. "He was a prick then and I hear he's a prick now!"

"No matter. Deke. I have to stop this! They're up now, punching at each other!"

Nova stepped between Dawn and Sasha on the front lawn of Rancho Carne High School as they fought, screamed, yelled, cursed each other, pulled each other's hair and clothing, and went berserk. All of the sheer hatred the two of them had for each other came out as they flailed away, around and over Nova's shoulders as they screamed,

"Iscandarian floozie!"

"Bitch from hell grabbing at my husband!"

"Blonde bitch taking MY boyfriend!"

Nova yelled, as Deke came up, "Dawn, you idiot! Deke has not been your boyfriend for years!"

"Eat shit and die, Nova!" Dawn yelled in her face.

"What?" yelled Nova as Sasha tried to reach over Nova's shoulder to pull Dawn's hair again. "Ensign, do you realize what you and Mrs. Wakefield are doing?"

"Let me at her, Nova! Deke! Stop pulling me back!" yelled Sasha. "I want to zap her so bad!" Sasha yelled as an unearthly flame began to burn in her eyes. "Auntie, move it, or you'll get parboiled too!"

"STIFLE IT, SASHA!" Nova yelled as she glared at Sasha and gently pushed her back. "AND YOU TAKE A DEEP BREATH!" she yelled at Dawn as she gently pushed her back with her other hand; the slightly older woman standing with her legs spread separating the two very enraged young women. "Quit it!"

"What's going on here?" yelled Principal Melman as he ran up with a school security guard and a member of the Junior Space Cadet Corps contingent at his sides. "Dawn! Deke!" the long-time principal yelled at them. "You two are grown millitary officers! Your behavior is atrocious!" Then, he recognized Nova Wildstar standing in the dark and said, "Commander, with all respect, ma'am, these two former students are not the best of Rancho Carne High School; not when they were here, and not now. Wakefield, I should have figured you would have been involved in this! What's the story?"

Deke remembered his old principal; he had always been something of a prick. "It's simple, Principal. My wife Sasha was being pushed around when her fist happened to meet Dawn's jaw. Unfortunately, things are not so cool right now between Dawn and her husband and new son. The three of us were trying to get her to come home, and..."

"The three of you ain't worth my TOENAIL!" yellled Dawn. "Especially you, ya clone of Starsha!" she yelled drunkenly at Nova. "Lookit her, Deke! Don't she look JUST LIKE STARSHA! And you hate the little bitch because she made us suffer...you..."

"YOU are talking about my MOTHER!" snapped Sasha as she glared regally at Dawn. "And my Auntie there is the most decorated woman in the EDF!"

"My GOD, Dawn. You are drunk out of your mind!" Nova snapped.

The Junior Space Cadet Corps Midshipman and the security guard were about to move in on Dawn and Sasha to make sure they left school grounds, just when Nova turned her head a little to look at the approaching midshipman. "Midshipman!" Nova snapped with all of her command voice. "You..."

Nova never finished, because that was when Dawn pivoted on her toes and sucker-punched Commander Nova Wildstar right in the head. With a loud gasp from the crowd, Nova sank slowly to her knees with a sudden glazed look in her eyes. Her lower lip was cut, and she dully wiped away some of her own blood.

The JSCC Cadet grabbed Dawn by the waist, but she fought him off with the crazed strength of a drunk, and then kicked one of her bare feet right into Nova's side. For a moment, the sight of the woman in her t-shirt, rumpled pleated skirt and old high school Varsity jacket kicking the much neater, slightly artsy-looking figure of Nova really nauseated Deke as he realized that Dawn was now acting more like one of the bullies who had menaced them both in school than like half of the tight couple they had once been.

Nova rolled slowly, moaned, slowly got her bearings as Dawn danced around her, drunkenly yelling, "Ya like that ya smarty-pants hypocrite bitch? Ya like that, ya intellectual! Ya like that, Mrs. Half-Japanese Godzilla?" she yelled. "If you're such a fucking Samurai, get up and fight me! Or is your fame way overrated, lady?"

Nova jumped out of her thongs as she got up, pivoted on the balls of her bare feet in the grass and said with her fists up in a cold, clear voice with a fire raging in her eyes, "Get back, Dawn and sit down, or I'll make you regret the day you were born!"

"TRY IT!" raved Dawn as she tried to head-butt Nova in the stomach. She missed.

Then, she attacked Nova with a box cutter she pulled out from her pocket. Some girls and guys on the sidelines yelled, "Fight fair, you thug!" "Nova's not even armed!" "Put the damn knife down, bitch!"

Dawn waved her knife at Nova and screamed, "You come closer, bitch, I'll slice your face open, and then Derek will never want you any more! Want to look like a space pirate for the rest of your life, BITCH?"

Nova jumped away, evading Dawn's drunken onslaught, but as Dawn approached her again, Nova caught her by the shoulders of her jacket, screamed "HIYYYAA!" and threw Dawn off-  
balance and down on her back in a sudden aikido throw that scratched Dawn's cheek and drew blood from HER.

Dawn was stunned, but she got up and tried to punch Nova in the face. Nova caught her fist, threw it back with one hand, and screamed an unearthly scream again as HER fist caught the side of Dawn's head. Then, as she fell, Nova deftly plucked the box cutter out of Dawn's hand, shoved it into her purse, and gave Dawn a kick in the ankle that made her stumble.

Dawn, with her ears ringing, staggered back as Nova came on like a machine, still screaming, slamming a fist into Dawn's stomach, and then slamming another fast blow into her throat, following it up by a blow to her head as she then shoved in a foot and tripped her.

As Dawn fell to the grass, Nova then gave her a good kick that made Sasha scream and bite her fists, followed by a kick to her head! "Auntie Nova! You'll kill her!" Sasha screamed.

"No, it won't be like that! I'm just teaching her a lesson! If I were out to kill her, she would have already been dead!" Nova yelled as she grabbed Dawn by the front of her Varsity Jacket and rapidly backhanded her ear and then slapped her in the mouth. "Give it up! I've taken your knife, you lousy, dirty fighter! Surrender!" Nova yelled.

"I'll see you in Hell!" Dawn hissed. She tried to punch Nova, but Nova just grabbed the punch, threw it back, and then slapped Dawn in the mouth again, drawing more blood and finally making her whine like an overgrown teenager as she began to cry. Then, she looked at Nova and screamed, "I'm sorry!"

"This is beyond sorry!" Nova snapped. "Your EDF Contract will be pulled as of tomorrow morning, and I'm recommending you for Commander's Mast before Donnelly for all of this garbage!" Nova then noticed several policemen arriving, so she grabbed Dawn's wrists and marched her before the policemen, who had just received a rapid-fire description of what had happened from Principal Melman. Nova looked at them and said, "Officers, this is the culprit...kindly take this trash away, would you?"

"Wildstar, what did you do to her?" demanded one of the policemen.

"Sergeant, I saw it all; she was trying to stop it when Mrs. Hardy here assaulted her after getting done with Mrs. Wakefield," said Principal Melman. "This lady was only trying to defend herself from this little punk," he hissed at Dawn.

"I see. Commander Wildstar, are you remanding her to us or waiting for the Shore Patrol?" asked the SDPD Sergeant.

"You can take her," Nova said, as she whispered to the Sergeant, "This woman has severe post-  
partum depression, bordering on psychosis, and is drunk. I would ask you to take her to Psych Unit at Central and commit her for observation."

"An Act 252?" asked the Sergeant. Nova nodded, and the Sergeant looked at Dawn and said, "Miss, turn around and let us cuff you. You are now under arrest. I am charged with reading you your rights."

Dawn looked at Nova with pleading eyes. "Get me out of this," she pleaded. "Ma'am, we're friends!"

"Unless things change for you, not as of now!," Nova snapped. "You need professional help to salvage your career, World Health Organization Ensign. That is, if Commander Donnelly does not recommend you for immediate dismissal from the Corps. And, I am sorry, but you can expect a long inquiry from a social worker about your treatment of David when you get home, because I am reporting you for neglect given this night. And I'm calling Jeff to let him know where you are and how you got there."

"You wouldn't!" screamed Dawn.

"I have to," Nova said. "He's still my friend. Unlike you. Now get out of my sight! I'm sick of looking at you! Beat it!"

Tears ran down Dawn's face as she looked pleadingly at Deke, who looked away from her as Sasha squeezed his hands and glared at Dawn. It would be a long time before Dawn talked to either of them again.

Truly alone and without any allies or friends left in this group, Dawn was bundled into a police car and driven away to the hospital.

TEN DAYS LATER...

June 28, 2208

San Diego Megalopolis

Dawn Hardy had never been so alone in her life.

She had been in the hospital, in the Psych Ward, for ten days; three of them under heavy sedation because she suffered a complete psychotic break with reality, constantly tore off her hospital gowns and went naked, and tried to attack every nurse, doctor, or orderly who came in to tend to her, attacking literally like a wild animal.

For part of one day, she actually got loose from her room and roamed the ward naked, snapping at people like a rabid dog, attacking the garbage for food (they constantly brought her food but she refused it) and she tried to throw herself out a window twice.

She spent a few days in bed, tied down with restraints as they tried medication after medication on her. Finally, they tried a new form of advanced electroshock therapy that targeted selected parts of her brain as she lay strapped down in a huge apparatus that took three technicians to operate...with panels covered with screens, controls, and Matsumoto Meters out the gazoo.

By the tenth day, Dawn was finally calm enough to lie in a daze, wondering when Jefferson would come in to see her.

After lunch, Dawn had a visitor. It was her mother Lynn. Her face was very, very grim, and she was holding two envelopes.

"They say you can talk now," Lynn said. "Are you well enough to hear news?"

"I think I can," said Dawn. "How's Jeff? I'm so sorry that I..."

"He understands...that you're sick. Your performance at that high school appalled all of us. First of all, you are banned forever from the grounds of your old high school. You are to be arrested for trespassing and criminal mischief if you ever go back there again. Secondly, you are not to attend any Star Force-related social gatherings...at least for the immediate future, and Commodore Wildstar has banned you from boarding the Argo. Your EDF Contract has been pulled due to your behavior and illnesses, and your pilots' license has also been suspended, and it will probably be revoked."

Lynn stared hard at Dawn, letting her take all of this in. Then, she said, "Third. You said a lot of bizarre things about Deke. He does not want to see you again in the foreseeable future. You are not to write him, call him, or speak to him in person and he does not want you in his home, He has had enough of you. The few things he had that reminded him of you, he has given back. He demands that you give back everything and anything of his you still hold. Including the Star Pendant. He is giving that to Sasha when he gets it back."

"How is Sasha?" Dawn said quietly.

"She is fine. But she told me VERY clearly to tell you that she never wants you near her again, and that you and she are enemies, just as she is aware that you and that poor alien woman Katrina Savela are enemies. You will probably never go to Iscandar again, because she intervened with her mother, and because of that, Queen Starsha told us to tell you you are persona non grata on Iscandar and are not to set foot on that world, any of their vessels, or their Embassies or Consulates."

"What about Commodore Wildstar?"

"He doesn't want to see you."

"Brew? Bangs?"

"They don't want to see you either."

"My old co-workers?"

"They'll probably see you for a little while; but they will be very cool to you. And..."

"How does Nova feel about me?"

Lynn sighed. "She told me to tell you that you and she are not on a friendly basis anymore, at least for the time being. She told me to give you this official letter. She said she has everything she wants to say to you in this letter:"

Dawn opened the envelope, on San Diego Central Hospital stationary, and scanned the letter, taking note that it had been typed up by a robotic secretary. It read:

Ensign Hardy:

This letter is being given to you due to your recent unstable and appalling personal behavior. It will be filed in your Personnel Jacket as part of your permanent record.

I must remind you that assault upon a superior officer, under EDF Regulation 3241.2A, will not by any means be tolerated, nor can it be countenanced, even in a situation that now arises like the present one, where the two service members are of different uniformed services of the United Earth Federal Government.

You were serving under one suspension when you personally assaulted this writer and several other people in the course of a few days while you were publicly intoxicated. Regulations dictate that you must be suspended from duty and pay for at least five more working days for additional offenses. Usually, suspensions under these circumstances are far more severe. This said, I have conferred with Commander Donnelly, and have intervened in your behalf, owing to your difficult family situation and medical diagnosis. We agreed that you will continue to be suspended for an additional five days and then granted mandatory unpaid rest leave, and she and I have agreed not to tender formal charges against you for your behavior. We will do this for you once and only once, to allow you time to recuperate. You are not to mistake my patience for leniency.

You are hereby placed on notice that any further behavior of this type from you, on or off World Health Organization Grounds, is hereby prohibited. Should such conduct ever arise again,full paramilitary charges will be lodged against you, and you will stand trial, and you will also be considered for medical discharge after you satisfy the penalties imposed upon you by a Commander's Mast or due trial, unless such penalties also include dismissal from the Service.

You are scheduled to return to duty on 11 July, 2208. Upon your return to duty, you will eventually be reassigned to another section of the Hospital where your contact with patients and those you have had differences with will be strictly regulated. You are also advised that upon your return to work in my section, fraternization with me and your other superiors will not be permitted or tolerated, and all legal orders given to you are to be obeyed without question or dissent. You are also not welcome at any of our social events off-site.

Regards,

CMDR WILDSTAR, NOVA, RN, LNP, MD Candidate

Dawn took the letter and threw it on the bed as her face turned into something like a mask. "She hates me. I deserve it."

"I would not say she hates you...you'll note she intervened for you? It is because of Jeff and the baby, she said. She will not come up to see you, and things will be very cool between you and her, but the woman is not your enemy, and God knows why! I heard all of the things you said to that fine young woman, and while she is not perfect, what you have done to her makes me sick! You're worse than you were in that Sorority, Dawn. When off those meds, you are a depressive, angry, vicious, scheming, and appalling drunk; and you are such a vile person, that if I think we could make Princess Invidia alive again and have her stand here, I'd rather speak to the scheming Princess than to you! I am ready to wash my damn hands of you, Dawn. And, read this letter."

Dawn looked at the blank envelope and asked. "Who is it from?"

"Jefferson. By the way, when you get out of here, you will NOT find him and David residing with you in the townhouse!"

Dawn's mouth fell open. "He...he...left me?"

Lynn nodded. "Yes. But he hopes it is to be on a temporary basis. He and David are currently staying with the Wildstars in the Tokyo Megalopolis, although he is planning to go out to take David to meet his grandparents at his father's plantation in Georgia known as Victoria. Nova is helping Jeff care for your son, although he is being checked weekly by a social worker for signs of long-term neglect. Jeff has made it clear that you are not to see David again until your condition has stablized and until such time as he moves back into your apartment again. He will probably see you in a few days for a visit that I will supervise."

"I can't believe he..." Dawn sobbed.

"Between you and I, you are lucky that he didn't just divorce you now. Would you like to read his letter?"

"Sure," Dawn said listlessly.

She opened his letter and read:

Dawn:

Our relationship is not over. Yet. But owing to everything you have done, it is very severely strained.

I had to take David and move out of our apartment for a while. He and I are safe in a spare room at the Wildstars' house, which is good, because David adores Nova and Derek. Nova gives him a sort of mixture between formula and some of her own milk, which is beginning to dry up now since Ariel and Alex have almost moved on entirely to solid food. But he is well-  
nourished and happier and calmer now, since you no longer are there to scream at him. Nova can see hr is a very nervous and easily startled baby and everything she does is in a soft, soothing voice. She has told Derek and I to handle him the same way, and we are doing that.

I won't be seeing you for some days, and I would prefer not to receive any phone calls or e-  
mails from you for a few days. I need time alone to think out our relationship. Everyone, bluntly, has advised me to just cut you loose and divorce you. Should that prove necessary, I would either take a ground assignment and raise David as a single father, or I would give him up for adoption either to Derek and Nova or to Deke and Sasha.

I do not want to divorce you. Not yet. If we come together, and if we stay together...that depends upon you at this point. You need to get better, and then, in the parlance of the South, you need to get some religion, girl.

I will be in touch regardless of what I decide, or what we decide.

Fondly,

Jefferson

"Well?" said Lynn.

"What am I supposed to think?" Dawn sobbed. "He left me! And it's all my own fault!"

"That is the first honest thing you've said in weeks, Dawn," Lynn said.

"What?"

"That it's your own fault. Because...it is."

TO BE CONTINUED...

"It Never Rains in Southern California" will conclude next chapter with Part Thirteen, "TWILIGHT"


	13. Chapter 13

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

* * *

_This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield. Thanks to SAMANTHA NOCERA (aka Steel Hyaena) for artwork and ideas contributed to this chapter. Ms. Nocera's artwork of Derek Wildstar is © 2010 by her and used by permission. Also, thanks to Gail Kopetz, Yuki Wildstar, and Ami Meitsu for ideas used in this chapter._

* * *

**PART THIRTEEN: TWILIGHT (CONCLUSION-part one "several journeys") **

* * *

**I. HEADING OFF EARTH…AGAIN**

**Earth**

**The San Diego Megalopolis**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Saturday, July 2, 2208**

**0730 Hours Local Time**

* * *

The _Argo _was again ready to leave San Diego; only this time, she was stepping cautiously back into space for the first time in weeks in a set of space trials in which the mighty vessel would do almost everything done on a regular mission; except execute a space warp and fire the wave motion gun, since the work on those computer subroutines was still going on. However, Sandor and Nova had repaired the system to such an extent that the _Argo_ was capable of executing the old-style space warps in a "limp-home" mode, and the wave motion gun was actually operational in its regular mode only and not in the Hyper-Mode. So, if the _Argo _was needed in some sudden battle, she could at least jump into combat. Nova was on this mission with Derek; her parents were staying at the Wildstar residence in the Tokyo Megalopolis for a few days to watch Alex and Ariel. Nova's mother agreed to help while wishing that Nova would put in for only ground assignments, not quite understanding that Command had done a lot of convincing to get Mrs. Wildstar to rejoin the ship's company on these trials.

Jefferson Hardy got to visit the First Bridge shortly before takeoff; he was carrying little David, who would be left on the ship with Nova, Jonathan, and Doctor Sane for a time while he and the rest of the Black Tigers flew up from the airbase and boarded the ship in the high atmosphere. Jonathan's Junior Space Cadet Corps squadron had received permission to board the ship for a week of very special training that impressed the squadron, for the kids would be serving limited duty in some of the _Argo's_ minor posts under very careful supervision.

The reason David was with his father was because Jeff and Dawn were still separated, and David would be heading to Victoria, the Hardys' plantation in Georgia, for a two-day visit with his grandparents.

At the moment, before leaving the ship for launch, Hardy was standing before Commodore Wildstar to discuss his plans. Because of the fact that this was a skeleton crew, Derek himself was again manning the Combat station. The Navigation and Living Group complements were likewise low, so Nova was temporarily serving as Group Leader for both sections…she would be sharing the Chief Pilot's duties with Eager and with Derek himself. As such, Nova herself sat at the helm awaiting orders for takeoff….and she sat facing Hardy, who was holding David.

"How long do you expect to be at Victoria?" Derek asked. "I hate to say this, but this is one of the worst times, Hardy, that you could ask for leave…so…"

"Sir, I know that this is poor timing," Hardy said. "But, I plan to be off the ship next week…on the fifth and the sixth…."

"Derek," Nova said from the helm. "Unless our schedule changes, the _Argo_ is supposed to be Earthbound for those two days, anyway. Remember? We're supposed to put in at Savannah at the dockyard there, and then we're set to cruise up the Eastern Seaboard coast to Wilmington, North Carolina, and then up the coast at high speed underwater to Philadelphia. It's going to be on the fifth and the sixth, anyway. Hardy can meet up with the ship again on the sixth when we put it in Philadelphia after we surface in Chesapeake Bay that morning."

"I guess that would work," sighed Derek. "Hardy, permission granted." Derek looked at Deke Wakefield, who was also on the First Bridge. "Wakefield, while Hardy's off the ship, you'll be Acting Flight Group Leader of the Black Tigers."

"Yessir," said Deke.

Derek then stood up. "Hardy, before we take off, go check on David . Mrs. Wakefield, assist Hardy in checking on his son; I need Nova up here for now," said Derek, looking at Sasha, who was at the Cosmo-Radar wearing the two-toned blue of a Torpedo Squadron known as the Black Aces that she was assigned to as both a Radar Intercept Officer and Trainee Pilot, as well as one of the Cosmo-Radar officers for this cruise. Thus, Sasha left, and, at Nova's orders, Eager took over at the Cosmo Radar for launch preparations.

Down below, Hardy and Sasha found that David was sleeping.

"Thank heavens for small favors," said Hardy with a smile as he looked on on his sleeping son in his bassinet.

"He has some milk available here in the fridge," Sasha said. "Some came from me, some came from Nova. We both contributed to this little endeavor."

Jeff smiled at his boy and let him sleep.

* * *

Dawn Hardy came home that day from the hospital…all alone.

When she arrived in the quiet townhouse in San Diego, she found a very brief e-mail from Jeff in her Inbox. It read:

2 July 2208

Dawn:

This is Jeff, again. The _Argo_ is leaving Earth for a few days' worth of space trials, since the refit is almost completed. David is with me. Sasha and Nova are helping me take care of him.

I'm going to be seeing my parents at their plantation, Victoria, in Georgia later in the week. I need to speak with them on some issues. There will, of course, be a cotillon there one night. Nova has agreed to come to Victoria overnight with me as a guest and she will be escorting me at the dance like a cousin…she's agreed to help with David, anyhow. No need to get jealous; Derek, Nova, and myself all agree that this will be a platonic visit.

I belive that I will be seeing you in a few days, and so will my parents. I need to see how you are doing, and my parents have decided that they have to talk to you before we can consider an end to our separation.

Hoping you are well….

Jeff.

Another, calm, cold clinical note, Dawn thought as she sat numb and alone in her townhouse. Then, she found another note in there…from Katrina Savela.

It was a note reminding her that she would be by to personally collect rent and inspect the townhouse in a week.

_Damn her_, Dawn thought. _Thanks to my own foolishness and her bitchiness, I don't even own the place I live in. Well, better start cleaning up._

Dawn started to clean; tears ran down her cheeks as she worked…alone.

* * *

Some time before launch, Derek met Nova, alone, on the ship's aft observation deck in the bridge tower.

He found her leaning on the wood rail, looking out at the sea off the California coast.

"What are you thinking of?" Derek asked.

"Everything," she sighed. "You know, they pretty much drafted me to come aboard this cruise. And, with Sandor in the hospital, guess who your new XO is? Except when I have to run off with Hardy for that overnight visit to Victoria and help with his son _and_ play Southern Belle that night?"

"Nova, we've been over this before. You're going to be a _great_ First Officer. Everyone on the crew respects you…and most of the crew…well, most of the crew adores you, honestly." He ran his finger over her mouth. "All you're going to have to do to get what you want out of these guys is give that cute little smile of yours. Then…"

"But, Derek. I'm a mother…I'm training to be a ship's Doctor, not a Captain. Yet, Singleton tells me I'm now on the promotion list! We know that when you move up to Rear Admiral, you're probably going to be placed in a Staff Job for a few years…and rumor has it that Venture will then be bumped up the Commodore and given command of Star Force Special Ops…right?"

"Not if I can help it," Derek said. Then, he looked hard at Nova. "Unless I'm either drafted by the Commander or you beg me to do it so that I can be home all the time with the kids for a few years. Maybe that's what I really need. Between you and me and the gatepost….running out into space is starting to get…a little old. And you want me home…"

"Yes…and for a few years, I want to be home, too. I've pretty much decided that when things…settle down, I wouldn't mind being pregnant again…" Nova said with a smile. "This time under far more quiet and stable circumstances than the last time…"

"Nova, darling….I like the sound of that," Derek said as he pulled her close and hugged her hard.

"But Derek. Well….if Mark gets that command, regardless of whether he takes the _Argo_ as his new flagship, or if he stays with the _Arizona_….they'll need a new Captain for one of those ships soon. I hope they make it Steve. Because if they want to give me the Captain's Chair of either the _Arizona_ or the _Argo_…I'm not sure I want it! Even though they'd probably _love_ to see you turning command of this vessel over to another Captain Wildstar in a few years…." Nova said with an ironic smile.

"Nova…you're going to make a great Captain if they ever make you one," Derek said. "You know why?"

"Why?"

"Number one, you're far smarter than I am; we both know that. Number two; I know you. You get scared when you look at new things, then you screw yourself up, think it's going to be another adventure, and you go for the gusto and do it, Nova. I know you do not give up easily. Hell, in some ways, you're more stubborn than I am. And that's saying a lot."

"So?"

"Don't be frightened of it..when and if the time comes, someday," Derek said as he held her close, and then kissed her. "Now, XO, go make the announcement. That's an order."

"Aye, sir," Nova said, with tears brimming a little in her eyes as she stepped back from her husband and saluted, hand to heart.

Then, she grabbed a mike off the bulkhead and said, "_Attention all hands! Attention, all hands! This is the First Officer and Deputy Captain speaking. We are going to be launching at 0830 Hours, Sharp! All hands take your positions for launch, and begin securing all stations!"_

Nova then put back the mike and said, "Captain, lead the way."

Derek nodded. And, at that, they left.

* * *

**SOME TIME LATER…**

Finally, after the launch preparations were made, the _Argo _blasted off right on schedule.

The lineup of the First Bridge crew was as follows:

Communications was again manned by Homer Glitchman.

At the tactical radar was Chris Eager, who would also be filling as ship's Navigator-Pilot when needed.

At the Artillery Station, a young new officer named Ensign Minoru Haragi sat ready to work the guns and other weapons systems under Wildstar's command.

Anaylsis was staffed by IQ-9.

Engneering was staffed by Diane Henson, soon to be Diane Sandor, who was worried to death because Sandor was still in the hospital, recovering from the recently-done surgery that would make him able to conceive children at last.

Commodore Derek Wildstar sat at Combat, while Commander Nova Wildstar worked the ship's helm behind the flight yoke, which she graped with crispness and authority as the space battleship cruised up out of the ocean in a roaring ascent. When the _Argo_ had reached the right altitude, Nova snapped, "All clear ahead for cruising speed! Main wings, open!"

The wings opened as Sasha Wakefield manned the radar, pretty in the two-tone blue uniform she wore as a member of the Black Aces. The torpedo planes were already aboard the _Argo_ in one of the upper fighter bays.

"Nova, what's our altitide?" Derek asked from beside her.

"Eighty thousand meters," Nova said as she looked at her instruments.

"Where's the kids, ma'am?" Eager asked.

"With my parents," Nova said. "This will only be a short cruise, so they should be fine…"

Finally, the last member of the first bridge crew was another new officer who scowled a little at Nova, Sasha, and Diane as he worked some computer screens in Sandor's usual spot as Mechanical Group Leader. He was Lieutenant Commander Hiro Nakajima, and he was a very cold, callous individual.

He was thirty-four years old, and he had quite a bit of experience, although this was only the second time he had ever been a Group Leader and full science officer. He had been Science Section Leader on two different commands, Mechanical Group Leader on the space battleship _Madagascar,_ and he had also served as the Commanding Officer of the Space Patrol Cruiser _Ainur_ during the Second Cometine War.

"Kids," said Nakajima. "The place kids should be is with thir mother…"

"In the best of situations, I agree," Nova said. "The unfortunate thing is…we do not have the best of situations right now." Nova looked at some readouts as the stars appeared in the _Argo's _windows as she cruised to the edge of space. "Captain, request permission to retract wings and accelerate."

"Granted," said Derek. "Go to second and then third space speed, Nova. Give us seventeen space knots. Then render the usual solemn charge to our home."

"Roger that," Nova said with a smile as she put her thumb up. Nova worked the right controls, retrtacted the _Argo's_ wings, and soon, the ship was cruising away from Earth towards the Moon. Nova pulled up a view of the receding Earth on the main screen. She looked at Derek, who nodded.

Nova then stood, opened an internal comm circuit, and said, "This is the Deputy Captain. We are departing Earth. Attention to render honors! HONORS!" she snapped as she came to attention and saluted Earth with her first up to her chest, followed by all of the rest of the Bridge crew..all except Nakajima.

"Mister Nakajima!" Nova said. "Aren't you going to render honors to Earth?"

"I'd prefer that the order come from the Captain," snapped Nakajima.

"Mister Nakajima!" Derek snapped. "Commander Wildstar is our Deputy Captain, and I gave her a direct order to render the honors in my stead. You know the regs. When a First Officer is assigned by the Captain to handle a duty, he or she stands in the Captain's shoes for that moment. Obey Nova's order!"

Nakajima glared hard at Nova, and he looked up at Earth and saluted.

Then, Nova made everyone hold the salute a little longer than necessary, and then, she said, "All hands, as you were. Stations!"

Nakajima glared a little at Nova and said, "I've been through a few things. Give me a moment to…get acclimated to life in the Star Force."

"We will do that," Nova said. "But I want to talk with you later. Alone," Nova stressed.

* * *

Hardy, Wakefield, and Marrable boarded the _Argo_ a while later with their two squadrons of Cosmo Tiger II's and one Type 52 Super Star squadron, which comprised the Black Tigers on this mission. Hardy and Wakefield led the two Tiger squadrons, while Jere "Brew" Marrable was in command of the Super Star interceptor squadron.

The Black Aces; a squadron of twelve upgraded Cosmo Panther torpedo planes, was under the command of Lt. Shigeru Sakamoto. Sakamoto, of course, had a _major_ history with Derek, Nova, and many of the others on the _Argo_. When Derek found his name on the crew roster, he made an appointment to speak with him ASAP, feeling that he had to lay down the law to the troublesome pilot to behave or become dog food.

In the meantime, under Nova's hand, the _Argo_ cruised farther and farther away from Earth.

Within an hour, the _Argo_ had slipped beyond the orbit of the Moon, and Commodore Wildstar ordered the Black Tigers and the Black Aces launched.

The mighty space battleship manuevered near the Moon as Hardy's, Wakefield's, Marrable's, and Sakamoto's squadron attacked a target range on the dark side of the Moon.

Sasha flew in that mission in the aft place of one of the torpedo planes, running the Radar/Signals position again under the command of a young officer known as Lieutenant Nyssa Wapner, a young African-American woman who was Nova's age. She had also left a child behind on Earth for the mission with her parents, who lived in North Carolina. Her husband, a young man named Lenhard Wapner, was maybe two years older than she was, and he currently served as the Combat Group Leader on the space battleship _New Zealand, _which was on patrol far beyond Pluto.

As they flew near the Moon, a strange sensation hit Sasha in the gut. She felt horrible. She immediately know something bad was going to happen, and, with a trembling hand, she focused on her controls.

"Miss Wakefield…you look sick back there!" said Nyssa. "May I ask what's….?"

"Watch that!" yelled Sasha.

Nyssa looked up, and just as it came on her radar, a strange, ugly red fighter plane appeared, shooting at the torpedo plane, nearly hitting it point-blank. Sasha's head whiplashed, and her helmnet came undone and flew off while Nyssa jinked and fired back, yelling out a report as Sasha cried out, "Ma'am, there's four of them on us…they're…!"

Sasha screamed as there was a bright flash in the cockpit and a gout of smoke. She got a fire extinguisher and put out the flames near Nyssa's arms. Sasha also found Nyssa was unconscious and unable to fly the plane any longer. With a hissed cure of "SHIT!" Sasha flicked a few controls, and took full control of a fighter for what would be her first solo…in battle!

"Where are they, where are they?" Sasha cursed to herself as she worked the controls in her Cosmo Panther torpedo ship.

She found out a moment later. Two of them were on her, and two more were coming. Sasha fired a spread of missiles at the two coming towards her while she spun hard, flipped about, and then faced the other two pilots head-on, snarling as she pumped shots into their cockpits.

Sasha saw the enemy pilots flying out of their cockpits to become frozen corpses in space as she hit them and she recognized the uniforms from intel briefings based on what they had learned from the Gamilons and their own recent experiences. "Sakamoto!" she cried into her mike as she got her helmet back on and got plugged in again into the comm circuits of the Cosmo Panther.

"Wakefield, where the hell are you and Wapner? She hasn't responded for three frackin' minutes and neither have _you!_ What the hell's goin' on?"

"We're being shot at!"

"This is a training exercise, you idiot! Of course yer gonna be shot at! With simulated crap!"

"With live missiles and ammo?" Sasha snapped as she was shot at again by the Bolars and just avoided getting her torpedo boat turned into razor blades with her in it. "That makes five down!" she yelled.

"Who's flying?" demanded Sakamoto.

"ME!" Sasha snapped back.

"You're not checked out, certified, or licensed to fly a bath sponge, Mrs. Sasha fuckin' Wakefield!" yelled Sakamoto. "Sit back down and let Wapner fly it! I'm gonna make sure you have a nice big Captain's Mast when we get back to base, you blonde halfbreed chowderhead!"

"Wapner can't fly a thing! She's unconscious!" roared back Sasha. "Or would you prefer I just go 'woe is me' and let them kill me?"

"Then go back to base!" demanded Sakamoto. "And let the professionals handle this!"

"FUCK you, Sakamoto!" Sasha snapped back as she saw forward into time a little with her power and quickly brought down another Bolar ship and turned off her radio. "_ooooo, that felt good_," she said with a smile.

She immedately felt Deke's fear and anger through her bond, and she sent to him, _* I'm fine, Deekee! Situation Normal, all Fouled Up! Wapner's unconscious or dead and I'm getting to fly my first solo with Bolars shooting live ammo at me! You'd better certify me to fly after this! * _

Deke thought back (and Sasha picked it up) _Why is your radio off?_

Sasha sent back, _* I had words with Sakamoto and cursed him out! He threatened to have me up on charges, the jackass! *_

Deke thought back, _Sasha, turn the radio back on and get up frequency 4543.222. Our private channel. The __Argo__ got shot at twice by a Bolar carrier and destroyer squadron which they dispatched, and we got a distress call from Venus that some kind of huge Bolar fleet is attacking the power station there and has shot at the __Nagato's__ battle group. Wildstar says Nova's warping out in nine minutes! We have to get back to base! I'll talk ya in!_

Sasha smiled a little and said, "Roger that, sir!" as she pulled up Deke's frequency. "Just one problem," Sasha sang.

"Yeah?" said Deke.

"I have never done a carrier landing before. You and Nova were supposed to show me how at some point on this little cruise, but…."

"Sasha, you'll learn how in about the next nine minutes. We'll talk you in!"

"Thanks," Sasha said as she flew on with butterflies in her stomach. The Princess really wondered how she was going to get out of _this_ fine mess!

* * *

Nakajima shook his head at Wildstar. "Sir, cutting our warp short to rescure one ineptly flown plane makes no sense! We should leave Wakefield behind; I think she has just enough fuel to get her little butt to Moonbase. They can then court-martial the silly girl there!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Nova snapped from her post. "I can hold the warp countdown back. We've done such things before…even with the un-supercharged warp mechanism, which is what we're down to right now until we fix that computer!"

"You stupid woman," snapped Nakajima.

"Quiet, Mister! This is the Deputy Captain speaking. She has a right to state her mind! Nova, how long would we have to wait to warp again if you stopped the countdown now, figured a new course, and laid it in again?" Derek demanded,

"Eight more minutes, sir," Nova said as she watched the dimensional sensor clicking up and down the valleys and peaks of hyperspace. "It would not hold us up that much and it would buy Sasha more time. Should I abort the sequence and begin to recalibrate?"

"Permission denied," Derek said. "Until I get more data…that is. Homer, can you contact ?"

"Yessir," Homer replied. "Mister Wakefield has already brought in the _Diamond Girl_ with minor damage and three confirmed Bolar kills."

"Good. Get me Sasha on the horn now."

"Yessir," said Homer.

"Sasha!" Wildstar demanded. "How is your fuel holding up?"

"Low. I have enough for maybe only seven minutes worth of flying, sir. I had to use the turboburner a lot to evade the enemy in the running fight I got into. I calculate I can make two attempts to land; that's it. If I can't land before you warp, please leave me here!"

"Sasha, we're all going to try to talk you in," Nova said as she got up, keeping her eye on the helm. When it reached four minutes away, she would have to run back to the controls. Nova ran to the tactical radar and said, "I'm tracking you at eight megameters' distance from the _Argo._ Cut down your throttle to forty-five percent and put your thrusters into 'cruising' mode and keep them there until you are thirty seconds away from the ship."

"Why are we doing that?" demanded Deke on the comm circuit.

"She's trying to conserve her fuel until she needs it to make those approaches," Derek replied just as Eager said, "The enemy fleet that pulled back before seems to be turning about! And I just picked up on the Time Radar that they began this turnabout two minutes ago!" Eager made the image come up on the screen on the overhead.

"This is not good," Derek said as he stood up and looked up at the Time Radar.

"You're telling me!" Nova added as she stood beside him. "Advancing in attack formation, too. They were trying to make us _think_ they were running. Pretty sneaky tactic."

"Good one, too," Derek said. "I wonder who their commanding officer is?"

"Whoever it is…we'll soon find out," Nova said.

"Sasha is three minutes away from landin'!" said Eager from his post.

"She'd better be able to get here ASAP," said Diane Henson from her post. "I can't keep on cooling down and bringing up the engines!"

"No one asked for this battle, Diane," Derek snapped. "We just have to live with it!"

* * *

**II. A DESPERATE LANDING**

**The Sol System: Beyond the Orbit of Earth's Moon**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Saturday, July 2, 2208**

**1103 Hours Earthtime**

* * *

The _Argo_ had taken some damage in the battle; Nakajima had his men working like machines down inside the _Argo's_ bowels to put out the fires and repair all of the damage.

"This is Ensign Wakefield!" Sasha cried. "Deekee…I'm ninety seconds away from landing!"

"We have two tries at a landing," said Deke as he sat with Hardy, sweating as he tried to talk Sasha in. "You'll be approaching the lower fighter bay…landing back in the port upper bay would be too difficult for you with your level of expertise. Set the ICS for Frequency 5431 and switch to semi-remote mode…you'll be approaching the lower bay on the beam…"

"Right," Sasha said as she worried about the health of Nyssa up front. "Caught the nav-beam," she said as she heard a low tone in her helmet. "Letting the boat's computer and nav systems go semi-auto pilot," she said as she let go the control yoke and watched as it began to move on its own as the Cosmo Panther responded to the navigation beam and began to turn and change course for a nice approach to the lower flight bay of the _Argo._"

"When you are exactly nine hundred meters away from the _Argo's _stern, you'll have to cut off, throttle down, and get your nose up so you can be caught by the magnetic arresting field," Deke said. "Put on your forward thrusters and prepare to do a burn two seconds after you are nine hundred meters from the stern."

"Right, nine hundred meters," said Sasha.

"Reading enemy fleet approachin!" said Eager. "Bolar Fleet distance….twenty megameters and closing…"

"Four and a half minutes to space warp," Nova said from the helm. "Commit to warp?"

Derek shut his eyes and nodded, hoping, _Sasha, I pray we have not just signed your death warrant. _Then, he said, "Miss Henson, commence final energy buildup for space warp. Nova, prepare the crew. We have to get to the Venus Area as soon as possible to see what became of the Venus Station….and to assist the _Nagato's_ battle group…."

"Yessir," she said with a heavy heart. She gave Derek a look…guessing he didn't like this any more than she did.

And she was right.

* * *

Sasha gritted her teeth and made her first approach. "Sasha!" said Deke in her headset. "Get your nose up ten degrees! You're going to flub this approach, damnit!"

"At nine hundred meters distance….Trying…also trying to reduce the speed!" Sasha said as she worked the controls. "Damn!" she cried. "Deke, my speed is not coming down enough! Can I try it?"

"Negative…you're gonna crash it!" Deke yelled. "Go around and make one more try!"

"Is she in yet?" Nova's voice demanded in Deke's headset. "I'm down to three and a half minutes!"

"No…she had to go around again…"

"Damn," Nova muttered. She looked over to Derek. "Seek permission to talk Sasha in! I can see the course intercepts here on my screen, and…"

"Denied, Number One, your place is at the helm!"

"Derek?" Nova said.

"Enemy Fleet…twelve megameters' distance!" Eager cried. "First wave o' missiles screamin' in!"

"We're locked in for the warp," Nova said. "I can't give you evasive, Derek!"

"All hands, brace for impacts…and make final preparations for warp!" Commodore Wildstar snapped.

The missiles roared in a moment later, one of them just missing Sasha as she went around for her second and final approach.

One hit the _Argo_ near the aft auxilary gun turret, knocking out two pulse laser mounts.

"Moderate damage to aft portion!" snapped Nakajima from his place at Mechanical. "If we sit here for much longer, we're probably going to take greater damage! Captain, order the XO to accelerate the warp sequence and leave that damn plane behind!"

"Denied, both requests," Derek hissed. "Wakefield, get me Hardy!"

"Yessir," said Deke. Hardy's voice came up a moment later, saying, "Captaiin?"

"Talk Sasha in," said Derek. "Even with everything that's…happened recently…we'd do the same for Dawn if she was in the same spot. Beside him, Nova nodded once, emphatically.

Remembering his personal situation, and looking into the pleading eyes of Deke near his, Hardy nodded and said, "Gentlemen don't let women die for no good reason…no matter what. Sasha! This is Hardy! Slow down, take a deep breath…and…we'll try this again," he said, trying to be as soothing as possible in his dulcet Southern accent.

"Yessir," said Sasha. "Going back around on the beam…slowing speed by proper percentage; nose up….timing thruster burn….committed to landing…"

"Two minutes to space warp," Nova said from her post.

"Energy level for warp, eighty-five percent," said Henson from her post.

"Bringing the ship in…am I on course?" said Sasha.

"On course, get your nose down just a little, Sasha…."

Sasha made a last-minute adjustment, and as her Cosmo-Panther flew into the hatch, its upper stabilizer hitting the edge of the hatch as it came in.

Just as had happened to Sergeant Knox's near-identical Cosmo-Panther nearly seven years beforehand at Brumus, Sasha's plane slammed in for its landing, trailing sparks as it went down the deck, and techs and pilots fled. It finally came to a stop, a smoking mess, but with her cockpit intact.

Sasha popped the canopy, threw off her helmet, and stood for a moment with her eyes closed. "Good," she said. "I can sense that Miss Wapner is all right. Would you get a crew here to help? MEDICS!"

Deke picked up Sasha and twirled her around laughing as Sakamoto glared at them.

"Wakefield. This stupid woman just wrecked thirty million credits worth of government property! And she…"

"She brought your pilot back alive and she brought herself back alive! Now, what matters more, Sakamoto?" Deke barked. "Your damn plane or the pilot and RSO?"

"No comment, buddy…we have to warp shortly….and we have more battles to fight, Wakefield!"

* * *

"Preparations for warp completed!" Nova said from her post, relieved that Sasha had landed safely.

"Execute warp to Venus," said Commodore Wildstar."

Nova nodded and said, "Ten seconds to warp…10…9…8…7…6….5…4….three, two…one. ZERO! WARP!"

"WARP!" repeated Derek.

Nova pulled back the lever, and the _Argo_ faded out of existence just as another wave of Bolar missiles went through the fading phantom of the ship.

The _Argo_ passed into subspace, and the psychedelic effects incident with the fact that the old warp mechanism had to be used began to happen.

In a twenty-second period that seemed to stretch for eternity, the following bizarre things seemed to happen to the crew, to wit…..

Nakajima suddenly felt as if he was at a dinner-dance with his dead, lost wife Fujiko, who had been mortally injured aboard another vessel in the Second Cometine War in 2205. He had been an embittered man ever since his wife had been brought off that ship, only to die in his arms two weeks later from radiation sickness in the Sickbay of the _Ainur_. Even the fact that he had been the Skipper of that cruiser could not bring his beloved Fujiko back to him…

Derek suffered the illusion of losing his shirt, and getting into a snowball fight with Venture in two feet of snow somewhere in the Japan Alps.

Nova felt as if she was drifting in space. She suffered the illusion (which she had been expecting) that she lost all of her clothes and was floating naked somewhere in space_. Ohhh, this garbage __again__?_ Nova thought. _At least, this time, I'm not cold….._

Eager just felt as if he was at his post. Then at the Tactical Radar. Then on top of Nakajima's shoulders. Then, in Nova's lap (thankfully, for her, her clothing had reappeared) and then, he was behind Wildstar, on top of Henson's desk, and then in Homer's lap.

When Eager felt as if he was back at the Cosmo-Radar, the warp ended and he felt very, very sick to his stomach.

"Hey, Nakajima…hey, Nova?"

"Yes?" said Nakajima. Nova said nothing as she made sure her apparel was intact and her cheek-curls were intact as she checked her systems. "Warp completed! All systems normal! We are near Venus…begin scanning! Eager, what is it?"

"When are you gonna get that computer fixed?"

"_As soon as possible_," Nova said dryly as she spotted some plasma bolts flying past the _Argo_. "Hang on, doing evasive manuevers, guys!" she snapped as she moved the ship about and went into a tight roll.

"You could have warned me a minute earlier," snapped Derek at Nova.

"Oh, you be _quiet_, Derek! Go yell at the Bolars for attacking us!" she snapped back.

"Number One, you're awfully mouthy today!" Derek said.

"Ohhhhhhh, Derek, are we ready to strike back yet?"

"Prepare main guns for firing!" Derek snapped. "Eager, where are they?"

"Eight Megameters' distance, off the starboard bow!" replied Eager. "They're at absolute coordinate Romeo Papa 231!"

"Changing course to Romeo Papa 231!" said Nova from her post with a nod.

As the Argo _turned_ to face the enemy, Homer said, "We have a commication coming in from the enemy flagship!"

"Put it on the main video panel," said Commodore Wildstar.

A moment later, the image of a cruel-looking face with dead light ice-blue skin appeared on the _Argo's_ main screen. Its owner was bald, with heavy, arrogant cheekbones, squinting dark eyes, a mean-looking thin-lipped mouth, and a vicious-looking old scar going across one cheek and up to the bridge of his nose. He wore an alien-looking uniform in two-tone grey trimmed with bright scarlet markings, and he looked dangerous.

"There is no need for translation protocols," he snarled in a heavily Slavic-sounding voice that sounded as if he was from the interior of the USSR. "The R'Khell psionics helped me to learn your common tongue, as unlovely and as blunt and decadent as it is compared to the literary sounds of the Bolar language. Young man with the long hair. Where is your commander?"

"I am he," Derek snapped as he saluted. "Commodore Derek Wildstar, Commanding Officer of the Space Battleship _Argo_, as well as Comamnding Officer of the First Star Force. And you are?"

"I am Fleet Captain Nikita Ilyich Rosskovsky, of the Bolar Federation, our sacred Motherland. We also see you are allied with that madman Desslok of Gamilon. He is a most arrogant idiot, and partly because of him, you will learn that truth of the proverb that if you sleep with the dogs, you shall get the fleas, ticks and other vermin!"

"Fleet Captain Rosskovsky, your observations are beyond the point right now," Derek replied. "Before we do battle, I demand an explanation for your presence here in our territorial space and I also demand to know why you have attacked a group of our fighters and some of our capital ships and facilities without provocation. All of these actions are considered acts of war, Rosskovsky!"

"Commodore Wildstar, I have heard from the R'Khells and Rikashans, and even some Garuman-Gamilon personnel that we have captured, of the bravery and honor of your unit. It is to my sorrow I inform you that your decadent planet stands in the way of the ordained expansion of the Bolar Federation and that you resist assimilation into the R'Khell Union even though they have been pursuing a jihad against you for several years! We have been asked by a High Dignitary of the R'Khells of great power to make peace with them and assist them in their efforts to conquer you. So, even though I do not subscribe to their religion, as I am, in fact, an atheist, upon the orders of my Presidium, led by Prime Minister Halleze, who recently deposed a previous Prime Minister, I must order you to heave to and surrender your vessel." He grinned hard at Nova as he said, "Your pet _mishka_ here beside you is most beautiful. I assure you that if you surrender, she will be well-treated in my own _dacha_ on the Homeworld and kept warm. Although not as warm as she would be on Earth, which, I understand, is becoming very warm indeed thanks to our proton missiles in your star."

Derek gritted his teeth and said. "Commmander Wildstar here is my First Officer and she is already joined to another. Myself. And we already have a quite adequate home. We will not surrender. I order you to leave our space or face the consequences, Fleet Captain Rosskovsky!"

"Damn you, Wildstar!" snapped Rosskovsky. "Very well, then! Be assured that we will _bury_ your decadent culture! Stand ready for battle!"

A moment later, five Bolar space battleships were firing hard upon the _Argo_. The energy beams from the enemy vessels were living green, and the blunt-looking grey warships did not look at all lovely. They looked as heavy and ponderous as Rosskovsky himself as they fired upon the _Argo_, which was backed up by the smoking form of the EDF space battleship _Nagato_ as she came up with her escorts. The screening destroyers and cruisers soon formed a screen around both the _Argo_ and _Nagato_, which bought time for the mighty EDF vessels to lock their main guns on Rosskovsky's fleet.

"Nova, bring our speed down two space knots."

"Two knots, aye," Commander Wildstar said from her helm. "Derek, I don't like the sound of that commander. And the _nerve_ of him! I do not want to go to _anyone's_ dacha!"

"Nova, you know that by the time we finish with him, he's not going to go _anywhere_," Derek replied with a big grin. Then, he said, "Mister, Haragi, are our main guns locked on target?"

"Yessir," said Haragi. "Main guns ready and locked on target!"

"FIRE!" said Derek as he pressed the trigger on his firing pistol.

Soon, the _Argo's_ main guns were responding to the Bolar onslaught, followed by the guns of the _Nagato_, which fired a barrage next, along with their cruisers. The EDF cruisers, having rapid-firing guns, pumped another barrage into the enemy fleet just as the _Argo _and _Nagato_ fired again, and then fired again for a third barrage.

"Hits right on target!" cried Eager from the Cosmo-Radar even as an EDF destroyer and cruiser not far away blew apart from being targeted by the Bolars. "Confirmed, two enemy battleships destroyed, along with one cruiser and four destroyers. Two cruisers pulling back alomg with one of the battleships….looks like they're damaged! Second wave o' missiles comin'' in from the remainin' enemy force of nine battleships, five cruisers, and twelve destroyers!"

"We're just outnumbered two to one, Derek," Nova said. "We've had worse odds! Eager, where are the missiles coming from?"

"Romeo Papa Juliet three-twenty!" Eager said, as Nova manuevered the ship abouut hard. All of the missiles hit except one, which impacted near Engineering on the starboard side as the _Argo_ shook from a fresh hit.

"Power to ship's systems is dropping off!" said Henson, who ordered, "Engine room, increase flywheel speed to 4000! We need to compensate!"

"Helm's getting a little sluggish, Derek!" Nova said as she visibly strained to work the controls while some of the EDF destroyers in their fleet responded with a barrage of torpedoes. Haragi then suggested to Wildstar that they fire their smokestack missiles. Derek gave the order, and, a moment later, both the _Argo_ and the _Nagato_ had fired a barrage of stack missiles at the enemy. The missile barrage put paid to another enemy space battleship and one cruiser.

"Eager! Take over as ship's pilot to let Commander Wildstar rest her back!" Derek ordered. "Nova, take your former station at the Cosmo-Radar!"

"Yessir!" snapped both officers as they traded places. Nova looked at a pattern on the radar and said. "No! _Space net_!"

"What?" said Nakajima. "What kind of analysis is _that_, ma'am?" he barked.

"They're forming an energy net of some kind around their fleet!" Nova said. "I calculate they're not going to allow us to hit them with any more missiles!"

A moment later, Nova's prediction came out to be correct when the forward screening EDF destroyers _Jacquard_ and _Hamlin_ fired torepoes at the Bolar Fleet, which were promptly caught in the net. The net also did not seem to stop enemy fire as the Bolar destroyers fired back and blew apart the _Jacquard_, and left the _Hamlin_ smoking in several places with her speed reduced.

Homer said, a moment later, "Captain, a call from Captain Heinlein of the _Hamlin_. He requests permission to retire from the battle and to warp to the Number Four Orbital Base near Venus to make repairs. Says he can barely get eight space knots out of his ship now and he won't be any good to us."

"Homer, let him know he's granted permission to pull out and save his men and women…if he _can…_" Derek said with his head bowed. _Now we're down to eleven ships,_ he thought. _Our two battleships, three cruisers, six destroyers…._

"Nova, analyze the space net and bring up a tactical on the main screen," said Derek.

"Yessir," she said. Nova's fingers flew over the keyboard since she was a bit faster at math than Eager, and, a moment later, a graphic appeared on the main screen. Eager looked up and said, "Seems to be comin' from those six destroyers surroundin' their fleet like a ring!"

"My guess," Nova said. "If we target them, we lose the net!"

"Homer, tell our escorts to concentrate all fire on those three forward destroyers," Commodore Wildstar snapped.

The escorts fired their guns, and soon, the space net began to drop.

In the meantime, Derek sat in thought for a moment and said, "Haragi, order the gun crews to prepare a spread of wave motion cartridges!"

"Yessir," he said. Haragi ordered, "All main gun crews, stand by to fire wave motion cartridges!"

A moment later, inside the _Argo's_ three main turrets, the crews were working like mad to bring up the heavy wave motion shells and to lock them into place.

Jonathan Hartnell-Wildstar was actually one of the Junior Space Cadet Corps cadets serving in one of those turrets; he was serving in Turret Number One working the far port side gun. He had already received his baptism of fire in combat before when he had seen and heard that big gun going off at close range. But, this was the first time he was seeing wave motion cartridges fired as he opened the breech by remote control from his post after making sure the air-seal hatch was locked in the forward part of the breech. He called out, "_Sir!_ Autolift records shell picked up!"

"Raise shell, Acting Midshipman!" barked the Turret Captain.

"Aye, sir!" said Jonathan. He watched as his lift raised the shell and then he took the steps to lock it into the breech. "Raised and _primed_!

"Open number one gun!" snapped the turret captain!

Jonathan worked the interlocks and switches. "Number one gun opened!" His turret mates called out the same for their guns, and the turret captain flicked some switches and reported, "All guns in Turret One opened and ready to fire wave motion cartridges!"

A similar scene was going on aboard the _Nagato_ in her turrets.

Haragi said after he received his last report, "Captain, all guns opened and ready!"

"FIRE!" snapped Commodore Wildstar.

A short time later, the _Argo's_ turrets went off, followed by the _Nagato's _main turrets. A nasty barrage of energy was soon flying towards the Bolar Federation Fleet as the fire of the EDF escorts brought down the last of the enemy destroyers generating the space net.

What followed was a holocaust. The major part of Rosskovsky's space battleships was caught in the barrage, and his own flagship was hit and slowed down by shrapnel. When it was all over, the Bolar Fleet had been reduced to four space ships; his own flagship, known as the _Rediniya_, her sister ship, the _Palski_, and the cruisers _Dakal_ and _Siranvich._

"Second barrage, sir?" said Haragi.

Derek looked back as Nova said, "No need! The enemy flagship just warped out! So did the others! Ladies and Gentlemen, we're not fully repaired yet, but we just won a major battle!"

Derek smiled at her and turned on the intership. "Attention, all hands! The battle is over! Repeat, the battle is over! The enemy has fled, and we've won! First Squadron of Black Tigers, go on patrol with the Black Aces. Make sure those bastards don't come back with reinforcements! Homer, get me General Singleton…we need to let him know we've won! Commendation recommended for Captain Shiro Kurita of the _Nagato_; he gave us good backup!"

"Yessir!" said Homer as the bridge crew cheered. Derek sat back and smiled at Nova. _Another space battle won, and we weren't even quite ready to fight the ship yet. Great work, everyone!_

* * *

**III. AFTER THE BATTLE**

**In Earth Orbit**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Saturday, July 2, 2208**

**1754 Hours Earthtime**

* * *

After the battle, Commodore Wildstar put Nakajima to work on some repairs while the Black Tigers and Black Aces flew some patrols. The new Mechanical Group Leader grumbled at that, but Wildstar made it clear to him that his behavior was beginning to get a bit…difficult.

Nakajima had to be ordered to see Derek and Nova later in the Captain's quarters. Before they parted (to allow Derek to inspect the ship and to allow Nova to do some navigation work and fine-tuning of the computers on Bridge Number Two) they agreed to meet in the Captain's quarters at 1830, after the _Argo_ warped back to Earth after leaving some supplies behind for the crews in the Venus Area to begin fixing the daamged orbiting power stations. Derek had learned from the Commander that the loss of two of the Venus Stations thanks to the Bolar attack had caused some running brownouts and blackouts on Earth that would probably continue for a few days….with major parts of the planet sweltering under temperatures between one hundred and ten and one hundred and twenty degrees because the Sun also chose this time to go somewhat haywire again.

Nova then called her mother to check on Alex and Ariel and got a "when are you going to be home?" lecture from her…but she noticed that Alex and Ariel looked OK; her mother had them dressed in nothing but diapers and Teri herself was walking around the Wildstar house barefoot in swimwear. Nova smiled since the toddlers recognized her through the video screen and were squealing. "Mommy! Where Daddy at?"

Nova's eyes nearly melted when she said, "Daddy's up on the First Bridge of the _Argo_, helping to protect us. So is Mommy. We'll be home in a few days!"

Nova also asked her mother to bring Star out of her crib so she could check on her for Sasha. It turned out Star was not in her crib, but was, instead, being given a bath by her own father Karl in the kitchen. Nova waved "hi" to Star enthusiastically and then she went to check on David Hardy while wondering idly if they shouldn't have brought all of the kids along.

Commodore Wildstar found himself looking for Nova a while later; he finally found her in Sasha and Deke's cabin….boots off, lying on the bunk with a leg up, sharing candy with Sasha.

Derek smiled at Sasha and his wife and said, "Glad to see you're okay, Ensign Wakefield. You had a close one out there today."

"Thanks, Uncle," said Sasha softy while Nova shoved some more candy in her mouth. "Auntie Nova took me out again a while ago in her Super Star and had me land the plane in the lower bay for practice. I did much better with my second landing and I didn't wreck Auntie's plane."

"Is that why you're eating all that junk, Nova?" Derek teased. "Keep that up, and you won't fit in that cute uniform anymore!"

"Derek, you are not to mention the word 'fat' around me unless I happen to be pregnant again," Nova teased back. "I don't know when that's going to happen with this new Cold War, though. I think we taught the Bolar Federation a little lesson today?"

"Yeah. Don't mess with Texas," said Deke as he came in. He saluted Derek and Nova briskly and then said to Nova, "Ma'am, with all respect, what are you doing on our bunk?" while observing that this was the first time he had ever seen a Fleet Executive Officer suffering a chocolate attack.

"Eating candy," Nova said sweetly. "Sasha tends to hoard this stuff in her suitcase like a chipmunk."

"Princess," teased Deke. "You'll get fat on that stuff!"

"No I won't, Deekee!" sang Sasha.

"Derek, we were just over this, so I won't repeat it," Nova said. "Where did I throw my boots again?"

"Under the bunk with mine," Sasha said. "Request permission to wear my flip-flops to dinner, sir," she said to Derek with big eyes.

"Guess it's okay as long as we don't get attacked," said Derek again. "You're not going in your new plane or on one of my bridges with flip-flops on, though."

"Wish I could wear _mine_ to dinner," Nova said as she got her boots and pulled them back on. "However, we are having dinner in our cabin tonight. We have to bitch out Mister Nakajima, the _substitute _Mechanical Group Leader taking Sandor's place on this trip. The man is really being a pain, and I'm not appearing before him out of uniform in any sense unless I'm swabbing a deck outside on Earth in nice weather. You two are family, so it's different," Nova said. "Are we clear?"

"Aye, aye," said Sasha as she smiled and kicked into her blue flip-flops, which actually looked cute with her blue uniform. "See you two later!"

"See _you_ later," said Nova with a wink to Deke and Sasha as she walked out of the cabin arm-in-arm with Derek.

* * *

It was 1830 when Hiro Nakajima banged on the hatch of Derek and Nova's cabin high on the bridge tower of the _Argo._

When he came in, he saluted Commodore Wildstar, who was seated at the small dinner table that was part of the furniture of the Captain's Cabin. He and Nova returned his salute. Nova herself was seated at the other side of the table, somewhat closer to the forward part of the Captain's cabin, near the computer screens and readouts. She was eating a plate of Tempura shrimp and Chicken with some rice and Gyoza (or steamed dumplings) as side dishes with chopsticks along with some tea. Derek had apparently just finished a plate of the stuff; and a third plate was set out (with a cover over it) for Nakajima.

"You got me the same stuff, ma'am?" he said carefully, not noticing much as Derek got up, pushed a button on one of his consoles, and then sat down while a small red light blinked on the console.

"I did, Nakajima. I made this stuff up for us myself in the galley, special order," Nova said.

Nakajima pulled off the cover and said, "I don't like Tempura _anything_, lady, but thanks anyway."

Derek gave him a baleful stare and said, "Nakajima, let's cut the crap and get right to the chase. Why don't you like my First Officer? You've got to work closely with her as well as me this deployment…even if it is just a set of glorified space trials."

"Do you two want the standard Fleet answer or the real answer?" sneered Nakajima.

"The real answer," Nova said as she fixed her dark brown eyes on him like laser rangefinders.

"Ma'am, I don't think you belong here. It's…it's neither chivalrous nor safe for a woman on a ship. We learned that result today with Miss Wakefield. We were in danger in combat because of her…because we had to let the young lady make two passes to land her ship, a ship she was not even trained or checked out to pilot. Did you put her up on Mast for that, sir?" said Nakajima.

"No need to," said Derek. "It was an emergency; her pilot was knocked unconscious, and luckily, she had received some flying lessons from Commander Hardy, Lieutenant Commander Wakefield, Commander Wildstar here," Derek said as he gestured to Nova, "and…last of all, myself. All four or us are competent fighter pilots and certified instructors, and we have all made kills in combat, and all of us could go out there right now and command a squadron each if we had to. Would you like to see our service jackets?" Derek said mildly while staring very hard at Nakajima.

"Let me get this straight," said Nakajima as he looked around and saw some of Nova's things in the cabin, such as her acoustic guitar with its Day-Glo flower sticker hanging on a strap near the two lockers along with her white peacoat and a pair of white ladies' summer heels left near the locker. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but do I get the impression you two _room_ together?"

"PRP Waiver…had it ever since 2201," Nova said without comment as she dipped one of her Gyoza in soy sauce and popped it into her mouth with her chopsticks. "Not bad for _ersatz_ pork," she said.

"Do you two…well, sir, does she get any special privileges?"

"No, except for those incident to being married to me and rooming with me," Derek said. "She works the same schedule as any XO, on any command. In fact, she usually puts in twenty plus hours per day. You were a ship's Captain. You know what it's like. She messed up a few times since I have been her commander, and I've punished her like anyone else. She's also saved this ship a few times over, sometimes in the Captain's chair as Officer of the Deck. A few times she ran this command in my stead in combat and won victories. She was also Captain of the Patrol Cruiser _Danube_ in '05. She was actually out on the line when the Second Cometine War started."

"What did you do when you were Captain of the _Ainur_?" Nova asked pleasantly.

"Won a few victories," said Nakajima through tight lips. "One at a heavy cost to myself. More victories than you did, I believe…_Captain Wildstar_…," he said as he stared Nova down. "Or maybe that should be Captain Forrester?"

"What are you insinuating?" Nova said calmly.

"I'd be _very_ careful with the tone I take with her, _Mister_," Derek said as he began making a fist under the table. "The Commander here is one of a very small, select group of people I would trust, without an ounce of hesitation, with my life, the existence of this vessel, and the lives of my crew. The others are Commander Stephen Sandor, my usual XO and Captain Mark Venture of the _Arizona_. We were all part of the Class of 2199, and our teacher was Admiral Abraham Avatar, first Captain of this command. I'm the second Captain, and, someday, their protests to the contrary, future Star Force members may well probably serve on this ship under Captain Venture, Captain Sandor, and Captain Nova Wildstar. Nova, stop looking at me like that…I know you desire to be a doctor, but the way history is going, you'll probably have your seat in that chair in a black peacoat like all of us for a bit someday. Those two men and one woman are in a very unique class. They have served on every post on the First Bridge at some point or another, even if only to fill in. With these three, I almost share a sort of telepathy. I just have to nod at them or make a certain noise and they know what I want. Unless you went to Iscandar with us, fought two White Comets like we did, and fought off Ekogaru and his legions, you have no right to say boo to us, Nakajima. Are we clear?"

Nakajima sat in silence. Then, he said. "I still do not think women should serve on EDF commands, Commodore….Commander."

"Why?" Nova said in a calm voice.

Nakajima said, "My wife, Fujiko. When I was skipper of the _Ainur_, she was serving aboard another command in my patrol squadron; the destroyer _Heerman_. In the middle of 2205, the _Heerman_ got chewed up by Cometine Scorpion boats on picket duty. Fujiko was Chief Engineer and was serving in the engine room when it was hit. The _Heerman_ saved us by absorbing all that enemy impact that could have hit us."

Nova sighed. "I remember her now. When I served for a little while as a flight instructor at Idlewild Base in the Megalopolis in 2203, Fujiko was one of my students. Very cute girl. Had you two just gotten married then?" Nova said, almost sympathetically.

"She never told me you were her instructor…that's news," said Nakajima. "Fujiko is no longer with us. But she didn't die in that engine room. It might have been better if she had. She got a huge dose of hard radiation in her face and chest when the magnetic bottle began to go for a moment inside the _Heerman's_ wave motion engine. She was medevaced to the little Sickbay on the _Ainur_. I visited her every day for the two weeks she had left. The last time I held her was right after one of the nurses gave her her bath. She was bald then…maybe weighed sixty pounds, covered with radiation burns, she cried when she even put anything on her ruined body because it hurt her. She used to be a willowy, curvy little thing like you who looked _adorable _in a jazz dance leotard. When I held her for that last time, she looked like a naked Halloween skeleton with some dried skin over it. She died naked in my arms wetting herself like a baby with all of her beautiful reddish brown hair gone," Nakajima said, his voice hitching a little. "Commodore Wildstar, let's be fucking blunt. Do you want that to happen to this lady here?" he said, gesturing to Nova.

"We've seen a lot of people die," said Nova sadly. "I've had to help cut open, autopsy, and embalm a lot of my friends. Derek and I face that possibility every time we board this ship…the possibility we may not make it back. We came to terms with that years ago."

Nakajima sighed, and got up with his hands balled up like fists. "Looks like I'll never convince you two, then. Wait until it happens! Mark my words. Just wait!"

"Nova, would you see him out?" said Derek.

Nova nodded, sympathetically putting an arm around Nakajima. "I'm so sorry to hear about everything. We don't see eye to eye….but…I understand how you feel. For this cruise, you aren't going anywhere. Neither am I. Let's just agree to disagree, okay?"

"Fine, ma'am. If you tell me one thing. Just between us. I hope it won't get the Commodore mad."

"What is it?" Nova sighed as she opened the hatch for Nakajima. Derek sat in his chair listening carefully.

"Ma'am,, answer me honestly. I know you two have kids now…those little squirts are all over the news now and again. Ma'am, did you get to be First Officer of this ship because of your great service record…or…because you two sleep together?"

"The forner," Nova said in very icy tones as she stared _very_ hard at Nakajima.

"I thought it was the latter, ma'am. Everyone can see you can barely even pull on that helm yoke and had to be spelled once by that Texan half-wit!"

Nova glared hard at Nakajima and abruptly slapped him in the face. "That's a MAJOR insult to me, both personally, and as First Officer of this vessel! Never say anything like that to me again, you son-of-a-bitch!" Nova said in cold, even tones. "If you ever refuse to obey one of my orders again, by the way, you will be on report so fast it will make your head spin! Now, get out of my face! Dismissed!"

Nakajima glared at Nova and Derek, saluted, and left the cabin, slamming the hatch behind him. When he was gone, Derek came up to Nova and said, "I'm sorry…"

"No need to apologize," Nova sighed. "I've heard that sort of garbage before in this "Man's Navy", Derek. I got the same bullshit from two men I commanded on the _Danube_. They shut up when I made them do a few laps of my cruiser in their underwear. It also looked to me as if you wanted to punch him?"

"Yes, I was…"

"This First Officer can take care of herself, dear," Nova said as she gave Derek a kiss. "Remember that time I threw Sergeant Knox around in zero-gee when he thought it would be funny to grab at my breasts? I could do the same to someone like him in regular gee now; I almost have my _aikido _and _karate_ black belts now. Thanks to you…"

"You are one of the smartest, toughest, and yet most tender ladies I know in the whole fleet…hell, on the whole planet," Derek said. "Hell…you…you've got balls!"

"I do?" Nova said as she looked down. "Didn't ever notice! I….actually, what you said was weird…but I'll take it as a compliment, sir. Let me finish my Gyoza. They're getting cold."

"About you and him?" Derek said as she went to eat. "Should I…put him on report?"

"No," Nova said sweetly. "I'm in command tonight on the First Bridge on Dog Watch, remember? He's going to have to turn command over to me then, and he'll have another watch to serve. I'll keep him quite busy," Nova said calmly.

* * *

Nakajima really had to work that night.

When he turned command over to Nova, she said upon sitting in the Captain's chair at the aft part of the bridge, "Would you mind getting me a complete _precis, _in hardcopy, of all of the work that your Group has performed on this vessel in the past forty-five days?"

Nakajima was staggered. "Ma'am, I have the regular logs and reports to check over, items to calibrate, and…"

Nova just said, "I had no trouble printing out the entire log of all of the modifications I have made to the computer in the past forty-five days, and Miss Henson gave me such a log yesterday. The Captain needs this tomorrow morning by 0900, and I intend to assemble that report for the Captain even if I get no sleep tonight. The slower you are, the less sleep you get, because I will keep you up until I get that report. You'll be able to manage it. Get to work."

"Ma'am…Sandor…"

"If Sandor was here, we would not be having this conversation, Mister," Nova said dryly. "Get busy. That is an order."

"Aye, aye, ma'am," said Nakajima as he gritted his teeth. _Damned bitch,_ he thought.

And, he continued to curse Nova under his breath as the wee hours of the morning of July 3, 2208, continued.

* * *

**IV. TOWARDS VICTORIA…**

**Earth**

**EDF Space Dock Facility**

**Port** **of Savannah**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Tuesday, July 5, 2208**

**0910 Hours Earthtime**

* * *

It was thus, that after more trial runs, more small warps, and more tests and manuevers that the _Argo_ finally made planetfall on Earth again, docking at the largest dock available at the EDF Base in Savannah, Georgia, on the East Coast of North America.

Some of the Black Tigers would be lifting off later that day as the _Argo_ cruised back out to the open sea for a bit. However, today, Wakefield would be the acting squadron commander, and Homer would be the acting XO.

The reason why was because Jefferson Hardy and Nova Wildstar were about to leave the ship for a short time, probably overnight, at the Hardy Plantation of Victoria in Georgia. Little David was coming with them, carried in Nova's arms as she tickled the baby boy in Sickbay and began to dress him as Hardy arrived.

"Sorry I haven't been able to get below here today, Nova. How is he?"

"Growing, burbling, happy, and hungry," Nova giggled. "He was so hungry that I had to do some of my work down here with him in the same carrying sling that I use to nurse my kids," Nova added as she patted the front of her gold and black uniform. She also had a bag of formula and other such incidentals packed. "I hope no one minds that I put on a dress when I get there. I have some suiitably light sundresses and shoes packed in my bag."

"No one will mind at all. In fact, it'll flatter mah mom," said Hardy. "It's mah understanding Wildstar will be picking you up tomorrow morning?"

"Yes…he'll be there early tomorrow to get me," Nova said. "We have a staff meeting that we have to do tomorrow morning before you even leave Victoria with David; we'll be expecting you back aboard ship at 0900."

"We've got a lot planned for twenty-four hours," Hardy said. The worst of it, he knew, would be his first call to Dawn, who was back home alone in San Diego at the Rio Amarillo Complex. He would want both his mother and Nova sitting with him when he made that call….with his mother to advise him on the family's attitude towards her, and Nova to help keep him calm in her gentle manner.

A few minutes later, in the lower flight bay near the Mechanical Group's Section and workshops, Hardy was putting his bags in the small carrying bay installed in the back of the Jet Recon Boat that he and Nova would be flying to Victoria in. Another place in the front had a baby seat in it. David would go in there, with Hardy flying at the far left, while Nova would sit between them in the middle, ready to alternate between co-piloting and navigation and baby care and amusement. Nova had a bag of charts and a diaper and toy bag for that double duty as it hit her again, _I know the situation…but it is so sad that you two couldn't reconcile yet so Dawn could do this. _Nova smiled at David as she put him in the seat, thinking he looked adorable in the tiny white shirt, shorty coveralls, and sandals he would be wearing to meet his grandparents for the first time.

Derek came up to them and gave Nova a hug as she worked on buckling David into his seat. He whispered in her ear, "Don't you wish that was our Alex?"

"I sure do…in fact…this is his spare seat," Nova said softly. "He said we could borrow it when I talked to him on the communicator before."

"In what words?" Derek said.

Nova smiled and repeated, "_ba ba ga gee go glar sploritz igy okay mommy takee bo bo seat!_"

"Bo bo seat?" said Hardy.

"That's what he calls any vehicle he's in at this stage, a bo bo," Derek said with amusement in his eyes as he thought of the son that he and Nova had produced in love after much pain and angst and a long wait.

Derek said to Nova, "You'll be dancing with Jeff at the barbecue?"

"Yes, I am his..escort," Nova said. She then whispered, "They couldn't get his Cousin Deanna to come, so they asked me to accompany him at the cotillon as his friend."

"Yeah," said Derek. "Don't dance too close with him, Nova."

"Oh, I sure won't! Too bad that you can't leave the ship, Derek. I'd much rather be down there dancing with _you_."

"Same here," Derek said. Then, he turned and took Nova in his arms and began to kiss her. She smiled, and put her lips full onto Derek's, unself-consciously and confidently giving her husband a sweet, hot kiss in front of the others during which their tongues met and a spark of passion built inside Nova's and Derek's breasts. They broke the kiss gently as they reluctantly parted.

* * *

A while later, the Jet Recon Boat was flying through the cloud cover as it began to come in for a landing in Georgia. Hardy was flying, and, even though he was watching the instruments, he swore that he could have brought his ship down to the old homestead blindfolded.

When he was given landing clearance a few minutes later, he flew the small ship down towards some farmland.

"Do you have your own landing pad there?" Nova asked, familiar with such situations siince she and Derek had their own small landing pad at their home in the Great Megalopolis.

"We do," said Jeff as he smiled at David, who was asleep. "Mah father's a licensed private pilot, and he owns two ships….a little sub-orbital passenger skyhopper bird, and a slightly bigger skipjack that goes out with his overseer and a robot crew to pick up seed and sometimes deliver crops to various points on Earth if he has a small order; or he escorts a small freighter if he has a bigger crop to sell. The skyhopper can't warp but the skipjack can, albeit with an old first-gen wave engine. He's been thinking of upgradin' it so he can make deliveries to some of the closer interstellar colonies."

"Is he at the point of selling to any alien races yet?" Nova asked.

Hardy sighed. "Do not talk about this around mah Mom, because she is dead set against it, but he's been negotiating at arms' length with an agent who represents the Gamilons. The Empire is interested in purchasing some grain for one of its bases near the Sirius/Procyon area. They're offerin' Dad a price that would leave him set for the rest of his life! Right now, it's held up with both Gamilon and Terran bureaucrats, but…well…"

Nova looked at Hardy and said, "It would be a great boost to interstellar relations with Gamilon if we could make that deal. If he wants to, you know Derek and I could talk straight to Desslok! If he got involved, he'd get the bureaucracy on his side to act…I'm not sure I'd want to know how," Nova said, aware of Desslok's sometimes radical methods to motivate his people to action, "….but he'd break any such logjam in a week or two if he got involved. Do you want us to call him, Jeff?"

Hardy sat up, both fascinated and repelled by Nova's suggestion. Fascinated because he knew that his commanding officer and his beautiful spouse were the two Terrans most admired by the Gamilon dictator and among the few Terrans who could actually call the Emperor a personal friend. On the other hand, he was a little repelled because he wasn't sure what his father, a very independent sort, would think of his deal being secured through an unofficial back-channel contact of this sort. Finally, he said, "We'll have to talk to my father before you and Wildstah go ahead with callin' Gamilon…okay?"

"Okay," Nova said as she smiled at David.

Soon, the small ship landed at Victoria. The cockpit opened, and Hardy and Nova soon smelled the rich smells of the North American Southland in the summer…the magnolias, the other rich flowers, the smell of water from a nearby creek, and the healthy smells of farmland and fresh-turned earth. Both Jefferson and Nova unzipped their uniforms slightly at the collar as they beheld the sights and smells of the modern plantation. Victoria was built in such a fashion that the barns, blockhouses, and machinery were of the most modern architecture, but the plantation house, while throughly modern and fully set up with the computers and tri-d entertainment screens that were a staple of any fairly well-equipped home of the twenty-third century, looked like something from the mid-nineteenth century on the outside, looking like a typical old two-story four column plantation mansion, with a couple of smaller wings running along the back.

While Jeff and Nova walked around the landing pad, she saw the semi-streamlined but slightly beaten-up looking form of the skipjack and said, "_That's_ the ship you were talking about?"

"Yeah…that's the skipjack...she's named the _Starlight_…sweet little ship. I flew her on a run out to Arcturus once to help Dad when I was on leave a few years ago. She handles nicely for such an old boat…," Jeff said as he took David from Nova for a moment to give her arm a rest.

"Something like this might make a nice family yacht, if…" Nova said, and then she just smiled.

"You like it?"

"Well, you and your father probably are going to need her for many years, but tell your dad if he ever wants to sell it, I think I can get him a buyer _really_ fast," Nova said with a wink as she ran a hand lovingly over its hull and Jeff could immediately tell that if his Dad would ever sell and Nova got her way, she'd probably be piloting the _Starlight_ back off to the Megalopolis someday…if she could win an affectionate fight with a certain Commodore, of course. Hardy had no idea how much money Nova had, but he heard heard rumors that she and Derek had somehow managed to set aside a pretty fair amount of it. Then, they turned back towards the plantation house again.

As Nova picked up David and carried him with his bag over one slender shoulder, she thought that the pattern of the wings looked somewhat like the plans Derek and she had set up on a smaller scale for additions to their own home in the Megalopolis (if they ever would have a few weeks to just settle down there) but she thought that the house looked suitably impressive.

"It's big," she said to Jeff as they walked down the tree-lined path that led to the front door.

"The Wilkerson spread down the county road is way bigger," said Jeff in a self-deprecating way.

"It's magnificent," Nova said as she looked around at the live oaks and the willows.

"There's mansions in San Diego and Tokyo that are way bigger than this spread," Jeff laughed. "The Commander's Residence would make this look like a dump."

"Well, it still looks nice," Nova said. "Not something I'm used to. I'd expect Scarlett O'Hara or India Wilkes to come out of that entranceway any moment."

Hardy laughed. "That's somethin' I like about you…you're a romantic. Dawn used to be like that…before…"

Nova sighed and patted him on the arm. "I'm sure she'll be that way again at some point in the next few weeks, Jeff. In spite of everything she's pulled, I don't hate her, and I'm hoping that she can get over this bump in the road of her life so that you two can be happy again with David…"

"Yeah," said Jeff with a sigh. "Ah hope so…."

Both of them entered the house, with its magnificent entranceway and sweeping staircase. David screeched happily as he looked up at the chandelier. Nova got up on tiptoes and gave one of the lower-hanging crystals a tap so that it would glitter patterns of light as it caught the sun in the foyer. David burbled happily as a tall, slightly weather-beaten looking man came up, wearing a wide-brimmed light beige hat that matched his beige suit, brownish plaid-pattered vest, and dark brown string tie.

"Dad, so pleased to see you again!" said Jeff as his father took his hands and then gave his son a quick, rough hug. Nathaniel Hardy was, indeed, taller than Jeff, and his son noticed that he looked a little older but was still a hale and hearty man.

"Can't say I'm displeased to see you again, or your dear friend," said Nathaniel as he turned to Nova and lifted his hat to her. Nova made him smile as, while holding David, she managed a little curtsey and said, "I remember you, Mister Hardy!"

"Yeah…that big weddin' you had," chuckled Nathaniel as he smiled at his grandson. "Is your dashin' Captain taking good care of you and your young 'uns?"

"He sure is, even though he's a Commodore now!" Nova said as she held up David. "Say hi to your grandfather, David…"

David Hardy giggled and promptly pulled at Nathaniel's bushy moustache. "Ouch! You're a strong ol' tyke!" he said in his deep accent as Nova and Jeff laughed. "Jefferson, the boy's got your looks, but ah also think he's got his mother's eyes. You sent me a picture of Dawn, and I get the sense she's quite a nice lady…when she wants to be. And therein lies the whole problem. How does the family get her to be the good sort ah'm sure she is, rather than the Dark Horse we're all hearin' about? Unless you made the wrong choice with her, son…"

Jeff sighed as he took David from Nova for a moment. "Yeah…that's what I'm trying to figure out. When I talk with her later on…well…when _we_ talk with her later on…we'll figure out how we're handlin' this. Where's Mom?"

"Finishing up on a teleconference with the accountant in her office; she'll be a few minutes," said Nathaniel. "Mrs Wildstar…?"

"Nova's just fine," she said with a pert little laugh as Jeff handed David back to her.

"Okay, then, Nova, dear," said Nathaniel with a smile as a serving robot came up and bowed to the humans. "She's one of our Third Series house robots…she'll show you where your room is. Juliet and I set up the largest guest bedroom for you and David to stay in. There's a big four-poster bed for you, and a nice soft chair and coverlet you can curl up in to nurse him, and we also have a crib in there for him. We also have a little changing table, and Juliet even has a dress in there for the barbecue tonight that she thinks may fit you. Since he seems to be fussing a little, you may want to go up there and see what's ailin' him while I talk in private with Jefferson. Also, did you bring an afternoon dress?"

"I did; they're sundresses, but…"

"Perfectly fine," said Nathaniel. "Even though I daresay you look right purty in that uniform, Juliet prefers to see a lady in a skirt rather than pants. Okay?"

"Thank you, that sounds wonderful," Nova laughed. "It's too hot for me to be comfortable in my uniform anyway. Do you have a commset up there in case I'd like to call my husband in Savannah? I'm afraid I left my portable back on the ship."

"No problem…since he's also your commanding officer, call him whenever you need to," said Nathaniel. "We'll see you and David in a bit, then we'll call Dawn."

"All right," Nova said, her face turning a bit more serious at the mention of Dawn. "See you soon." The robot said, "This way, Miss," to Nova as she led her and David up the stairs.

Nathaniel then turned to Jefferson as Jeff asked, "How's business?"

"It's goin' well," said Nathaniel. "We have one contract with Earth Defense for some provisions for Pluto Base that'll ship this month right after we harvest it that'll finish coverin' expenses for the year and put the figures firmly in the black, and Juliet's just signed another one with a university in Berlin that'll just be pure profit when we harvest that one in September. Plus…well…you know….we have that pendin' deal to sell off all the snap peas we have in one of the elevators….we have that deal to sell 'em off-world to that _other_ supplier through that agent Murchison," Nathaniel sighed. "You know what I mean. The one they're thinking of payin' me that ridiculously high price for. But that's still held up with some ministry or another of _their_ generals in their damned alien Empire, and…"

Jeff sighed. "Dad, ah'm not sure I'd be tellin' you this, but…"

"Yes?"

"I was talkin' with Nova before and I told her about that planned deal with the Gamilon Empire." Jeff sighed and said. "She offered to talk with the Commodore about it because she thinks it's a great idea for fostering ties with the Gamilons. She and Wildstar could easily talk right to the Throne itself and hammer out a deal with Desslok in a phone call or two. Desslok respects them and would do darn near anythin' for 'em…within reason, of course. Then, he'd get his generals moving to make it happen. Do you think…?"

Nathaniel and Jeff walked through a doorway into the smaller living room that was off the side of the larger ballroom, and he sat down on a big wicker chair near a large ebony grand piano and sighed. "Between you and I…if I could swallow mah scruples a little, I'd jump at the chance, take the money, and let Wildstar and his sweet missus have anything they want from us. They're David's godparents, right?"

"They sure are," said Hardy, remembering how Derek and Nova had sponsored them in their home Episcopal church in San Diego at the christening when Sasha and Deke had refused….mostly because Dawn had just had another one of her fights with Sasha, and there had been words between Dawn and the Baptist minister she and her mother had used for Sara's funeral some time after the services had ended that had made Dawn rather unwelcome in that church.

"But, you know how Juliet feels about anything connected with the Gamilons….she…"

A moment later, Juliet Hardy swept into the room in a swish of light yellow cotton. She looked ageless, being trim and well-kept for a woman in her mid-forties, dressed this afternoon in a simple yellow sundress with a floral print pattern and very feminine open-toe flat slippers woven from straw; her long dark hair swept around her as she came into the room in a brisk walk and then stopped. She smiled at Jeff and gave him a warm hug, and said, "Well, my wandering son has returned home from his travels just long enough to say hello to his mother! How are you, dear?"

"I'm doing fine, mother," he said formally as he kissed her hand.

"Have you and your lady patched up affairs enough so that she can be here with us?" Juliet said.

"Well…no," said Jeff as he looked down at his booted feet. "She's still in San Diego; and I've been horribly busy. I…we…we haven't even spoken face-to-face yet since everything happened and we separated. I've had David, and…"

"I know…your two lady friends have been helping you with him?" sighed Juliet.

"Juliet, I tried to tell you before, but you were on the phone with Mister Murchison about something," Nathaniel said firmly. "I…"

"Is David here?" snapped Juliet as she sat down in the other wicker chair, her hands on the arms of the chair as she interrogated her son.

"Yes…..he's upstairs with Mrs. Nova Wildstar right now, who flew in with me from the _Argo_." said Jeff. "I'm sure you remember her from her wedding. She's being an absolute angel in helping to take care of mah son, and I owe her an eternal debt for that."

"Yes, she's a very gallant and bright girl, and I understand she has three of her own right now?" said Juliet. "I guess _she_ has her family looking after them until she and her distinguished husband get back to their homestead? Or she should, if'n she has half a brain in that pretty blonde head?"

"Yes, she does, Mother," said Jefferson. "She and her husband consented to the notion of her taking liberty with me to help with David and to escort me to the barbecue later…:"

Juliet sighed. "It's very kind of Miss Nova to consent to be your escort tonight…but Miss Dawn couldn't be bothered with it?"

"I'm not sure she's ready yet," said Jefferson. "However, I asked her if she could consider meeting me out here in my last note to her, but she never responded to it."

"If she wants to be your wife, she needs to be ready to face up to her responsibilties!" said Juliet. "If she wants to mother the one child God gave her to mother after He took the other child, she had better be ready to do it, or, barring that, she'd better step aside and take any suitable settlement you offer her and then let _us_ care for him!" Juliet said with a look of steel in her eyes. "At least until we help find a more _suitable_ belle for Jefferson if it comes down to that, Nathaniel! Preferably a _mature_ Southern girl suitable for our clan, with the looks of an angel and a mind like a steel trap…why, the _looks_ of that Dawn Westland girl…in that picture you sent me of her…those blonde bangs…land sakes…what _were_ you thinking?"

"Mother, we fell in love, and ah never knew about all her problems when we were datin'," said Jefferson as he pulled at his collar, uncomfortable at the way his mother's dark eyes were boring into his soul.

"Then you should have asked her more about herself…and eloping in Las Vegas? For land's sakes, that earned you trouble-and-a-half, Jefferson!" snapped Juliet. "But, even after I was appalled, I thought 'Jefferson's a war hero, let him sow his wild oats with his new lady for a bit, considerin' how he was hurt when his last major belle was captured and killed by the enemy in space…but then, she'd better settle down with him to a more normal life!' Which, I see, Jefferson, she did not!"

"I…well, Mother, do you think I'm happy with her right now? Tell me honestly…" said Jefferson.

"No, you look downright miserable," said Juliet. "I…"

Then, a moment later, a soft voice came from behind them and said, "May I come in? I have David…"

Juliet turned to see Nova Wildstar standing in the doorway by one of the French doors holding a much-happier looking David. Nova had taken off his shirt and had left him bare-backed in his little coverall, but he looked somewhat happier as he explored Nova's collarbones with hir hand. Nova herself had changed into a white sundress trimmed in pink that left her shoulders, arms, and upper chest bare. The dress came down to just above her knees, and her legs were bare, and she wore very light sandals.

"Jefferson, I declare you may need to find a new belle like her," Juliet said as she got up and embraced Nova softly. Then, she stepped back and kissed David on the cheek. "My GOD, Jefferson, my grandchild is beautiful! And I see he has a lovely escort this afternoon," she said as she gave Nova a kiss on the cheek. "You're a sweetheart, Mrs. Wildstar. Thank you _so_ much for helping Jefferson with David."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Hardy," Nova said formally and politely.

"You can call me Juliet, dear," said Juliet.

"And likewise, you can call me Nova," Nova said as she smiled at Juliet. "Jeff, can you hold David while I say hello to your father?"

"Sure," said Jeff as he took his son back from Nova. Nova then swept over to Nathaniel and introduced herself. Soon, Nova was making small talk about what she had seen in the garden out her window while she had been bathing and nursing David, and she and Nathaniel were discussing gardening and farming.

"She's practical in some ways," said Juliet as she knelt down by Jeff to play with David. "Dreamy in others. How long have you known her?"

"Ever since our first mission to Iscandar," said Jeff.

"Why didn't you make a try for her hand, Jefferson?" whispered Juliet. "You served with her…she would've been quite a catch!"

""Well….everyone else could see from early on that she was going to end up either with Venture or Wildstar, so no one else ever really tried," whispered Jeff with a blush. "That was, of course, except the three of them, at first. They were very tight, and in some ways, still are. She's loved Derek Wildstar for nearly ten years now, and she's gonna be with him until death do them part, I'll bet."

"If, and that is if…because I think you and she have a responsibility to try, Jefferson….if you and the lady you have already, can't reconcile, you need to find a girl like her. And I'm not giving Dawn much time to make up her mind, Jefferson, because my grandchild needs a full-time mother. Not one with _issues_," she said with steel in her gaze.

Jefferson already guessed how the talk with Dawn would go….Dawn would be on trial…with Juliet as the judge. If Juliet approved, they might have a chance at a reconciliation. If not….Jefferson guessed he would be firmly advised after their talk to cut his losses with her…and move on….

Nova then finished talking with Nathaniel, and noticed their piano. "Juliet, Nathaniel, do you mind if I play for a bit?"

"Not at all," said Juliet. She got up and opened the piano as Nova sat down at the bench. Nova closed her eyes and said, "I'm going to play something old…but beautiful. It's a rendition I have in my mind…and I sing a little, too…"

Juliet nodded, and Nova put her hands on the keys and gently began to play an almost classical-sounding rendition of the Beatles' waltz-like, haunting, "_I, Me, Mine_". The way she played it made it sound almost like something written by Schubert as she shut her eyes and mostly played, singing a little, but mostly playing, as a tear or two formed in the corners of her eyes. She had overheard a little of what Jeff and Juliet had been discussing, and she felt very sad for him, while she missed Derek more than ever as his face swam before her in her mind, followed by the faces of her their children. Nova wondered for a bit if she could even dry her tears and dance with Jeff at that barbecue tonight while wanting to be in her Derek's arms so badly that she could taste it.

Her sensitive playing provided a sad little counterpoint to the proceedings as Nathaniel looked at his son and said, "I sort of heard you talkin' to Jefferson, Juliet. I agree with you, but it has to be his decision. At some point, he either has to fix things up with her and make her see reason, or, he has to be a man and tell her how he feels all on his own. I think that after we all talk to him and his lady, we should leave them be to make their final decision, whatever it is."

"When should we call her, then?" said Jeff.

"Son, I think we should resolve this as soon as your sensitive lady friend there finishes her song. Then, we'll contact San Diego…."

"And then?" said Jeff.

"We will let the chips fall where they may…"

* * *

**AN HOUR LATER….**

In San Diego, Dawn Hardy was very surprised when the phone rang near the latter part of her morning, and she flicked on the video and saw Jeff looking out quietly at her, with an unreadable look in his eyes as the small camera focused on his face.

"Jeff!" cried Dawn, who was caught in an old but neat T-shirt and cutoffs. "This is nice! I've…I've…missed you! Where are you?"

"Victoria…my parents' place," Jeff said calmly as he worked a control, and the camera zoomed back to reveal him sitting in a chair with David in his lap, with a strong-looking man standing there with one hand on Jeff's shoulder, and a very determined looking woman in early middle age, Dawn guessed, standing there in a sundress with her hand on little David's shoulder. But, Dawn's heart dropped when she noticed Nova standing beside the middle-aged woman, with a gentle but otherwise unreadable expression on her face. "Dawn, I stood back to give you some time, but my parents and Nova all agree that we all have to talk. Not later, not some other day…but _now_, Dawn."

"What…what will we talk about?" said Dawn.

"Your future as a member of this family," said Juliet, cutting right to the chase. "I do not know if you have seen my picture yet, but my name is Juliet Hardy. I am your mother-in-law, young lady. I wish our first meeting would be more pleasant, but considering the way you have reacted towards my son and my grandson, I don't see why it needs to be. You are a most unpleasant, troubled, young lady. Even Mrs. Wildstar here agrees with me."

"I…?" said Dawn. "Nova?"

"Dawn, I have not told them everything, but I have told them most of it," Nova said in a level, firm voice. "I know you are very troubled, but I am as appalled at you as Mrs. Hardy is. Still I consented to be here, and I consented to talk to you and I interceded with your superiors because I think you _might_ be redeemable. That is….if you grow up a great deal."

Dawn nodded as Juliet looked at her and said, "Jefferson's father does not have much to say, because he agrees with me, but this is what I have to say to you. If I had known when you and Jefferson were dating what you were, how you had acted in the past when you were in that sorority at Pan-Am university, and how you treated your former intended, Derek Wakefield, I would never have assented to Jefferson marrying you, since my clan does not accept those of your sort, with your sort of issues. Yet, you have married Jefferson, and the two of you have a child here," said Juliet as she played with David. "For the sake of that child, if you wish to continue acting as his mother, you will toe the line of this family, and you will begin to live like a young woman worthy to share the Hardy name and not like same damned drunken trashy guttersnipe in high school. Are we clear on this, young lady?"

Juliet just stared hard at Dawn, and Dawn stared back. But, she broke the gaze, and finally said, "Yes, Mrs. Hardy. I…I'd like to continue to be with Jefferson…and to be a good mother to David."

"Good," said Jefferson. "There are my terms for returnin' to you," he said, looking at his father as Nathaniel nodded. "One. You will not consume any alcohol other than maybe one social drink once in a blue moon. Two. No more attending any events intended for teenagers. Three. No more attempts to romantically contact Deke Wakefield or any of your other fomer boyfriends. Four. You will act as an exemplary nurse and officer of the World Health Organization, no more guff to any of your patients or your superiors. Five. You will treat me with all of the respect, love, and courtesy due me as your husband. Six. You will mother our son David as you are supposed to. Seven. You will continue with your therapy, and you will make restitution to all of those you have wronged in the past few weeks, and make apologies. Beginning with me, and I mean, right now. Dawn?"

Dawn looked at Jefferson with glistening eyes. "Jeff, I'm so sorry about all the pain I've caused you. I really promise to get help and be a better wife to you and mother to David…."

Jeff nodded and held up David. "Apologize to our son."

Dawn held back tears and looked at David, who just blinked at her. "David…baby…honey…darling…I'm…I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I couldn't be with you…to love you…hug you…hold you…..I'm so sorry, David! Mommy wants to be with you….and Mommy wants to make it all up to you….."

David looked at her, looked puzzled, and then looked to his side…to Nova. He urgently began to wail to her, and, true to form, she came and picked him up. Dawn then just wanted to cry when she saw David throwing his arms around her, holding on, and cooing at Nova. The message from her son to her was clear; "_You're not my mommy! This is my mommy!_'

Nova just looked at Dawn and said, "I know, Dawn…I've been caring for him so much he's starting to bond to me now. As well as to Sasha. You…really need to change before you can come back to us and then David can recognize you as his mommy. And you owe me an apology, Dawn. A major one. I've done nothing but help you…look out for you and Jefferson and David…I've interceded to the authorities on your behalf…and what did you do? You tried to sucker-punch me into unconsciousness. Are you ready to apologize, Dawn?"

"Yes, Nova, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry….so, so, sorry…please forgive me!" said Dawn as she wept.

"You're forgiven so long as you never do that again. But I don't think you should be asking me to forgive you. Look at your husband and your son, Dawn. Then look to your family…ask them to forgive you."

"Mister Hardy?" pleaded Dawn. "I'll…I'l act like a young lady from now on. I…"

"We'll see," said Nathaniel. "Juliet?"

"Mrs. Hardy…I…I'm so sorry that I…."

"It also remains to be seen whether I forgive you or not, young lady. Or accept you. But it is not my call right now. Jefferson?"

Dawn then looked hard at Jeff with pleading eyes. "Jeff?" she whispered. "Please? Will you take me back? Will you come home to me?"

"Will you come home to our marriage?" asked Jeff. "And agree to my terms?"

Dawn finally nodded. "Yes, Jefferson…I will. And I'm _so_ sorry! Please forgive me,Jeff."

"Ah do," said Hardy a long moment later. "Provided you act like a young lady from now on, and not like a teenager, I will come back to you. With David."

"Thank you!" sobbed Dawn. "Nova, are we friends again?"

"Yes, provided you don't want to go ten rounds with me again for the Flyweight Ladies' Championship belt," Nova said with a wink. Dawn smiled at Nova, relieved to have her as a friend again. Then, she looked at Juliet. "When can I meet you, Ms. Hardy? Can I come out to Victoria to reunite with Jeff and my son?"

"We'll have to see about that," Juliet said frostily.

"Please?" said Dawn.

"You haven't apologized to me yet, young lady," said Juliet.

"Mrs. Hardy…I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?"

"I'll entertain the notion if Nathaniel does. Until then, you will never set foot onto Victoria. Nathaniel?"

Mister Hardy bit his lip, looking from Jeff, who was saying "yes" with his eyes, and then to Nova, who nodded a slow "yes" to him, and then to Juliet, who almost impercepibly shook her head 'no'.

Then, Nathaniel looked at little David, who was looking hard at his mother. Then, the baby boy put up his arms, cooed a little, and tried to kiss his mother's image on the screen. He looked at Juliet and whispered in her ear, "That baby needs his mother, Juliet. Please, Juliet. I'm entertaining the notion. In fact…"

Juliet gave Nathaniel a look and said, "Nathaniel, if you call this wrong, you will regret it. All right, young lady," said Juliet to Dawn. "If you can come out here, tend to your husband, and properly mother your son…"

"Yes?" said Dawn.

"If you can and will do that, welcome to the family, and welcome to Victoria, Mrs. Dawn Hardy," said Juliet. "Do you promise?"

"I do," said Juliet. "On my honor."

"Then, on your word, you are welcome here. But if you do one thing to offend me, I will have you escorted from our property by the Sheriff. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Dawn firmly.

"Can you fly out here tonight?" said Juliet.

"I can try…"

"Then, come out here and be with your husband. You won't mind Mrs. Wildstar escorting your husband at the barbecue until you arrive?" Juliet asked.

"Not at all," said Dawn.

"Then I expect to see you," said Juliet. "And we will have more to say."

* * *

**V. THE BARBECUE…**

**Earth**

**Jefferson** **Davis County**

**The Hardy Plantation of "Victoria"**

**Tuesday, July 5, 2208**

**1900 Hours Earthtime**

* * *

The afternoon light was beginning to fade just a little as, up in her guest bedroom at Victoria, Nova Wildstar held onto her husband Derek and kissed him. Derek had just arrived at the plantation a few minutes ago in his Super Star Fighter, flying with, of all people, Dawn Hardy, who had been allowed back aboard the _Argo_ at Nova's request.

"I'm so happy to see you again!" Nova said as she kissed her husband, who stood there in his Star Force whites holding a garment bag.

"Glad to be back," Derek said as he kissed back. "Dawn came with me. She and Hardy are having their reunion in the other room. Where's her dress and shoes?"

"I left them in there for her," Nova said. "Now, we need to get you to look like a dashing Southern gentleman in a military uniform in the next fifteen minutes so you can escort me down the staircase like you should be doing." At that, Nova began helping Derek dress.

In the meantime, in another one of the spare bedrooms, Dawn was standing in Jeff's arms, holding him, and crying softly as they celebrated their reunion. As they cuddled, little David began to cry. Dawn picked him up and asked him, "Hungry?"

"Can you nurse him now?" Jeff asked.

"Yes! They have me on a new medication that won't pass through his milk," Dawn said as she let Jeff unbutton the sundress she had worn there. Beneath it, for coolness, she had worn nothing at all. Soon, Dawn stood there in Jeff's arms, in only her open dress and sandals as she held David close on her bare chest, letting the baby hear her heartbeat as she tenderly let him nurse. Jeff also hugged David as he hugged his wife, and he said, "I've seen Sasha nurse him…I've seen Nova nurse him, but you look the best doing it because he's ours…"

"I'm not bitter any more, Jeff," whispered Dawn. "I'm so grateful to have you and him back that I'd do anything for both of you now…."

"Ah know you would," said Jefferson Davis Hardy as he rocked his wife and son, and touched Dawn's stomach near her navel. She felt a sweet stirring in her loins as she burped David, who was getting sleepy. Then, she put him in his crib while Jeff kissed her and tenderly stripped her of her sundress….then her shoes as she lay on the bed smiling and naked in her husband's arms.

Jeff kissed Dawn and began to touch the center of her. She smiled as her nipples came erect, to be kissed by Jeff. Many more minutes of pleasure and joy passed for them as Dawn stripped her husband of his clothes and began to pleasure him as he pleasured her.

"I forgot how much I missed this…" Dawn whispered as he continued to touch her and make love to her. "I love you, Jefferson…"

"I love you, too, Dawn. Forever?"

"Forever," whispered Dawn. Their lips met as he took her for the first time in many days with great joy and passion.

The lovemaking was wonderful. There was a small bathroom in there, and they took a romantic shower together, as they suddenly realized they were quite late…

* * *

"I wonder where Hardy and Dawn are?" Derek asked as he waited with Nova at the head of the staircase as music played downstairs.

"I have an idea," Nova said as she traced a heart on her husband's chest above his medals. "And if they take much longer…" she said as she looked into his eyes. "Maybe we can be late, too?"

Before Derek could answer, Hardy and Dawn swept in. Dawn now had on a light blue hoop dress, with sandals, and Hardy had on his Black Tiger uniform, blue peacoat, medals, and cutlass, and he carried his cover in one gloved hand, as did Derek.

The two couples came down the stairs together, with applause growing as they were announced in the ballroom and then, they swept into the dance…dancing with each other, at last…and all very much in love.

It was, indeed, a magical night.

* * *

When the night ended, Nova and Derek dressed again in their uniforms and they left Jeff, Dawn, and everyone else on cordial terms, even skywriting a messsage "GOOD LUCK TO JEFF & DAWN" in the fading light in the sky before they left.

Later that night, Dawn and Jefferson went to bed with David nearby in his crib in the large guest bedroom that Derek and Nova had vacated. Jeff and David went to sleep quickly, but old fears and uncertainties filled Dawn's mind as she lay there naked in the night next to her husband.

She thought, What if _this is all a farce? What if Jeff and his family hate me and they all send me away in the morning because I'm not Southern enough and don't fit their ways?_

_What if Commodore Wildstar talks to them at the hospital and gets me up on charges?_

_Nova seems tight with that Katrina Savela girl? What if Nova really hates me? And what if she is being two-faced and plotting with Sasha and Deke to ruin me?_

_Oh, I'm just so scared….and what if this family takes David away from me? _

Dawn fell into an uneasy sleep, filled with dark thoughts.

As she began to dream, she found herself in a grey void somewhere….

The void was filled with fog…..and it was cold.

All Dawn had on was a light white shift….and she seemed to have a flashlight in her hand.

Dawn shivered as she heard rasping, unnatural mechanical breathing coming at her.

"Who are you?" Dawn demanded, her bare feet gripping the cold floor of the dark dreamscape.

Then, a cold mechanical voice came. It was female, but unnaturally deep. It said, "Dawn Hardy, when you undertook the foolish idea to beat me, I demolished you. I have since grown in powers and influence. See things my way, Dawn Westland Hardy. Don't make me destroy you…."

Dawn looked at the fog. The breathing grew louder, and, suddenly, a form at least a foot and a half taller than her height appeared, all in black, with a black cloak, black leather and metal environemental suit, control boxes that glowed with status lights, and an imposing ebony breath mask.

Dawn recognized the monster. She was the fictional Sith Lord Darth Vader. Except that Dawn thought, _Maybe she should be a Sith Lady…the bitch in that suit is definitely female….._

In Vader's right hand, appeared a handle, that ignited into a fierce, pink lightsaber. It hummed with menace as Dawn somehow turned on her own lightsaber. It was light blue, and it looked ineffectual against the Dark Lady's saber.

Vader advanced, moving fast in the boots wrought of black leather and metal that she wore. She swung at Dawn, almost taking her head off.

Dawn ducked, and, in a panic, she swung, parried, and then tried to behead the mechanical monster that faced her.

Dawn only hit the breath mask, which exploded in a shower of sparks. There was a groan and roar of rage from the Sith, and Dawn somehow moved in for the kill.

But, what happened next shocked her.

It shocked her to her core.

The Sith Lady ripped away the remains of her helmet and breath mask and threw them at the ground in disgust. The mechanical breathing continued, and the Sith apparition regarded Dawn with baleful, burning dark eyes as her honey-blonde hair blew in a wind.

The Sith Lady was very familiar to Dawn. Frighteningly familiar.

The Sith Lady's true face was that of Nova Wildstar!

"Dawn, you have not yet realized your importance," Nova said in her own voice over that horrid breathing. "Join me, and I shall _complete_ your training. You shall carry a weapon at all times, and be ready to attack your true enemies, those who mock you. Those who _deride_ you," said the apparition of Nova as she forced the lightsaber to Dawn's throat. "But you can never beat ME! Divest thyself of that notion, thou fool!" Nova said, as her voice grew deeper. It grew very, very cold in the dream. "For, I am not your life. I am your DEATH unless you repent! Join me! Worship me!"

"Who are you?" said Dawn.

"I am the Dark Lord," said the apparition as the face changed to that of a male with a moustache. "I live within Nova! To stop me, you must KILL her! YES!"

And, cold, demonic laughter came as Dawn realized who she had just met.

She had just met Lord Ekogaru.

And he was Death personified.

Dawn lay there thinking, _What if Nova does have him living in her? What do I do? What do we do? I am starting to like her again! I can't kill one of my few friends!_

And, the Dark One just laughed.

Oh, yes, He/She laughed!

* * *

**TO BE CONCLUDED with the next chapter….**


	14. Chapter 14

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS****-****IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA…**

**A Postscript to **_**THE NEW COMET**_**- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

* * *

This Story is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)-_Freddo_

_Thanks to __SAMANTHA NOCERA (aka Steel Hyaena) for ideas contributed to this chapter. The character of Captain Kalevi Denneman (referred to in this story) is © 2010 by Samantha Nocera and is used by permission-All Rights Reserved. _

_Also, thanks to Gail Kopetz, Yuki Wildstar, and Ami Meitsu for ideas used in this chapter._

* * *

**PART FOURTEEN: TWILIGHT (CONCLUSION-part two "training and homecomings") **

* * *

**I. PORT OF CALL: PHILADELPHIA**

**Earth**

**The Philadelphia Megalopolis**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Wednesday, July 6, 2208**

**1120 Hours Local Time**

It was thus, after quite a few adventures and battles in the past few days, that the _Argo_ sat an anchor again, in peace, on the East Coast of North America in the waters of the Delaware River in the Philadelphia Megalopolis Region, not far from the heavily rebuilt memorial ship known as the USS _New Jersey_. The New Jersey had incurred heavy damage in the planet bombings and had been thought to have been lost until her wreck was again found after the Cosmo-DNA had been fired off. With her wreck found, it took some doing, but the ancient ship was taken to an EDF dry dock near New York. She sat there, while a few officers in the EDF offered a report of her material condition and stated that her materials could serve as the raw material for conversion into another Space Battleship as had been done with the wreckage of the _Yamato_, which had been in even worse material condition when the shipwrights had gotten their hands on her.

The Earth Defense Council voted down the idea, even though Commanding General Singleton had privately thought that the _New Jersey_ would have looked rather good sailing the Sea of Stars beside her one-time wartime enemy the rebuilt _Yamato_, whom she might have met in battle near Leyte Gulf if history had gone differently and Admirals Halsey and Kurita had made different decisions.

Instead, such as it was, the _Argo_ sat at anchor ready to fly again, while the _New Jersey_ had only been rebuilt to the extent where she had been given a fusion reactor deep in her bowels to power her rather than the ancient oil-fired boilers that had once burned in her engine rooms. She was kept in the sort of material condition that she could actually sortie again as a last-ditch defense if given a crew, missiles, powder, and shells. A small EDF historical team, dressed like US World War II-era sailors, helped man the _New Jersey_ at anchor as her museum docents while the retired antique hosted tourists, schoolchildren and other such community groups.

It was a fate that Commodore Wildstar hoped never befell the Argo…at least while he lived…as he stood on his command's deck in the hot summer air of Philadelphia watching some of his Mechanical Group working on patching up small rents in the _Argo's_ hull and decks with portable torches while another work gang of men and women in Living Group gold and black worked on the space battleship's wet foredeck barefoot with hoses and automatic deck scrubbers and holystoners to clean the ship's decks.

"C'mon, people!" Derek heard a familiar voice saying over the somehow faraway mechanical din, mingled with laughter, song, and good-natured cursing. "We have to get this deck shining by fifteen hundred for the Skipper and our dignitairies!"

Derek thus confronted his XO; Nova stood there herself running a deck scrubber, barefoot. Nova was wearing a variant of her Living Group uniform that left her long legs fetchingly bare in the sun sans the high boots that were her leggings for this issue, just like some of the other young girls who worked with her in this uniform. Nova worked munching an apple as she worked herself on part of the deck running her deck scubber with a squirt hose. Nova kept her authority even though her wet uniform, with its zipper unzipped to her breastbone, clung to her in such a way as to show that her boyish 30-year old form was unabashedly naked beneath the thin cloth like a Vargas swimsuit pin-up. "All right. What are you doing out here? You have Ensigns and Sergeants for this sort of thing, Nova…" Derek said as he directed Nova to a spot near the back of one of the _Argo's_ massive main gun turrets…an isolated little spot on the deck between the huge turret and one of the access hatches that led back into the ship.

"I'm following what you taught me, Derek. Never give a subordinate any job that you aren't willing to take a hand in yourself. Sergeant Blakeley told me they needed an extra hand and asked me to let Private Kofsky out of the brig. I said, no way; I'd rather work on the ship myself than let that guy out. Besides, Derek…I was getting bored up in our cabin. Although when we take a liberty call, Derek, I want to put on a skirt or shorts and walk around downtown Philly for a bit. Care to join me?"

"I'd join you now if you'd put on sandals and zip up a little and go to lunch with me dressed like that!" Derek whispered with a wink.

Nova laughed and kicked some water on him from off the deck. "Hey! Nova, why'd you do that?"

"To cool you off, Derek!" Nova said with a laugh.

"We have a meeting at thirteen hundred," Derek said. "Please leave this job to one of your subordinates in a while, and meet us in the Central Strategy Room." He looked Nova up and down and winked and said, "Much as I hate to say it, please meet us dried off and with more clothes on."

"Oh, you're no fun anymore," Nova teased. She then squealed softly as Derek pulled her close to him, and did a quick unzip of her uniform down to down past her navel. She squealed and pretended to hit him as he tickled her belly button and saucily slipped his hand down her uniform and copped a quick feel while he shut her up with a kiss in the hot sun in that little alcove, feeling her bottom as he embraced her and suddenly wishing (although they both knew that it was not possible to do so now) that he could just strip the uniform off her and touch her naked in the sun like he often did in their yard behind their hedges and walls back at home. Then, he quickly zipped up her uniform again and said, "That's because we can't have anyone else seeing you dressed down like that…"

"you bad, _bad_, Commodore," Nova said with a mock scowl while her eyes shone with repressed mirth, happiness, and maybe something more. Derek had copped his feel in such a way that Nova was still recovering from the pleasant, melting shiver he had caused. "Go away before I splash you and that bulkhead with this hose and make us both have to change!"

"Why would you do something like that, Deputy Captain?" Derek said.

"Because if this goes on, I will _want_ to be late for that meeting." Then, Nova stepped back and saluted. "Uhhh…my group might be watching, sir. Please leave us?"

"Will do, Commander," Derek said, returning the salute. "Carry on! As you were, Commander."

Nova nodded, thinking, _Why don't I just leave now? No one will miss me. Ohhh, better not!_

* * *

Nova actually met Derek at 1230 in the messhall, in a fresh, dry uniform and boots. She looked as serious as a heart attack as she looked at her husband and whispered, "I received a very disturbing call from Dawn Hardy in our quarters a while ago…."

"What sort of phone call?" Derek asked as he sat down beside her with his lunch.

Nova sighed. "You know our so-called 'friend', Lord Ekogaru? He started haunting her dreams last night. Dawn said she had this disturbing dream where she fought the fictional Darth Vader from the old 20th Century Star Wars movie series, who turned out to be me, and then turned out to be HIM. Naturally, his appearance had all of the regular hallmarks of one of his apprearances; cold, death, dread. Dawn told me that HE was trying to make her believe that I was the Dark Lord's new host. Fortunately, even she has enough common sense to see how ridiculous this is."

Derek sat musing and said, "If he had caught her in the state of mind she was in two weeks ago…she may have fallen for it. But we observed that she seemed to be quite calm and collected at Victoria."

"Which gives me a therory, Derek. What if her problems were partially severe post-partum depression, made worse by _his_ mucking about with her mind? We know how insidious his attacks can be."

"How do we defend her against an attack like that, Nova?"

"Simple. Encourage her to believe in her love for Jeff, for David, herself. We've found out that where there is goodness, love, and peace in a heart, Ekogaru tends to give up on someone like that. Not worth corrupting, I guess?"

"With Dawn, that's a tall order, Nova."

"With Dawn, it's the only thing that might keep her sanity," Nova added. Jefferson Hardy then came over because he overheard what they were talking about. Nova had him sit down and she filled him in as to what had happened in her talk with Dawn while Nakajima came up to Wildstar with a salute and said, "The condition of the ship is pretty good; except that we're having a little bit of trouble with the repairs to one of the aft gun turrets, and there are some temperature readings on the port side auxilary engine that are a minor cause for concern, sir."

"Is there anything that would keep us from powering up that engine?" Commodore Wildstar asked.

"No, sir," said Nakajima. "When we get underway again or get to Moonbase, I'd like to check it out. What is our agenda after we leave Philadelphia, by the way?"

"Our mission profile has been slightly expanded because I got new orders," Derek replied. "We're leaving Philadelphia tomorrow morning, and heading to Moonbase, as you've no doubt heard, for two days' worth of ground maneuvers, attack runs by the Black Tigers, simulated boarding and defense ops, that sort of thing. On the ninth, we'll leave Moonbase and return to Earth, landing near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. In Vietnam, we have three more days worth of simulated fighting planned in the jungles past the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. We're scheduled to leave Vietnam on the twelfth and to return the _Argo_ to the Tokyo Megalopolis at that time, so we should be home on the twelfth. That's if all goes well."

"Derek, I don't like the idea of us being in Veitnam," Nova said.

"Why is that…ma'am?" Nakajima hastily added.

"They had real activity by some of the Josiahites around the border with Laos. If they penetrate further into the country, Derek, things could turn nasty. In a _hurry_."

"How many people are we going to be working with in 'Nam?" Hardy asked.

"They're loaning us a Battalion of Space Marines at Moonbase," Nova said. "For these ground manuevers, Derek's going to be in charge of the Assault Company of five platoons, while I'm going to be in charge of the Headquarters Company, which includes Admin, Medics, Transport, and Support Platoons in the field. In other words, Derek's in charge of the assault and defense, and I'm in charge of his backup. We're going to have somewhere between four and five hundred Marines. They're going to be crammed aboard the _Argo_ for a while, so, get ready for the usual fights, thefts of food, assaults, people belching in the messhall and throwing chicken bones, et cetera. I will have pepper spray on me at all times," Nova added dryly.

"The yahoo brigade rethuns," said Hardy. "Wonderful news, Nova."

"Which unit is it?" asked Eager.

"Fifteenth Battalion," said Derek. "The bunch that successfully defended Pluto near the end of the Second Cometine War. Their usual skipper is a Colonel Mick Gaylord…tough little guy from North Carolina. The exec in command of the Headquarters Company is a Major by the name of Karen Underwood. When Nova and I are in command of those companies, Gaylord and Underwood will be our immediate subordinates."

A moment later, a Corporal from Communications came up to the table and saluted. "Mister Hardy, _sir_. There's a private message holding in the comm room for you from Georgia. Both you and Commander Nova Wildstar are wanted."

"They want you?" said Nakajima.

"Derek, it must be that business I told you about with Hardy's father," Nova said without elaboration, but Derek knew what she was talking about; that potential deal with the Gamilons. "We may have to make some calls later…"

"Yes, we needed to call _him_ to give him an update with the situation with the Bolar Federation, anyway," Derek replied. "Jeff, you and Nova go tend to that message."

Both officers saluted and left.

* * *

As Jefferson had guessed, the person on the other line was his father Nathaniel Hardy. Juliet sat beside him, with a tight-lipped, annoyed expression on her face. Oddly enough, she was the first one who spoke when she said, "Hello, Jefferson. When your father ran the numbers for me on this…deal…..I began to see just how this might help us from a financial standpoint. I do not agree from a moral standpoint, but, financially, I had to concede that the sale to Gamilon would help us. Provided they stick by their price."

"So, you mean?" asked Jeff.

Nathaniel cleared his throat. "We've agreed to the sale of that shipment to the Gamilons. Therefore, Nova, we do ask your help…as we discussed the other day."

"We're supposed to be talking to the Throne later today about some other business, so I'll mention it," Nova said. "What was the name of the Gamilon officer Murchison was working with?"

"A Colonel Dracha," said Nathaniel Hardy. "I've received messages from him, but have never actually spoken to him…"

"Nathaniel, are those beastly blue people going to come to Victoria to pick up the goods? Remind me to go have the vapors and hide if they do," said Juliet.

"No, dear. Everything is being done through Murchison and his usual shipping agents here on Earth," Nathaniel said.

"Thank heavens," said Juliet. She looked at Nova and sighed. "You can really arrange this?"

"I feel I sure can," Nova said.

"Well, sugar, I wish you luck," said Juliet. "Better you talkin' to Desslok than me. Oh? How old is your Dawn again, Jefferson? She seems so danged young!"

"She was born in 2184," Jeff said. "She's about the same age as my friend Wakefield; she's twenty-four now; gonna turn twenty-five next April."

"Quite an age difference given you were born in May 2178 and you're thirty, Jeff," said Juliet. "You're always going to have to be the more mature one in that marriage."

"Just like me," sighed Nova. "I was born in February 2178; Derek was born in July in the same year. We're just getting around to his thirtieth birthday."

"Oh, for land sakes, Nova," laughed Juliet. "You're comparin' apples and oranges. Your gallant young Commodore is very mature for his age with all the responsibilties on his head and he's not that much younger than you! Jeff is having to look after two babies in this marriage. His son and Dawn."

"Yeah, you can say that again," chuckled Jefferson. "Nice talkin' to you and Dad again, Mom," he said as he noticed Nova gently tapping her wrirst chrono. "Duty calls."

"I'll be sure to mention the grain deal to Desslok," Nova said. "Very nice speaking to you again, Nathaniel; Juliet."

"Take care, Jeff…you too, Nova," said Nathaniel as Juliet said, "Goodbye, both of you! Keep an eye on that Dawn for us! For David's sake!"

"I will," said Jeff as he nodded goodbye to his parents.

* * *

**II. LUNACY AT MOONBASE**

**Earth's Moon**

**EDF Main Base**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Thursday, July 7, 2208**

**2145 Hours Standard Earthtime**

* * *

The _Argo_ left Philadelphia at around 6AM the next day, and she was soon airborne again, and back on Standard Earthtime, which was the EDF's equivalent of "Zulu Time", based upon the time in the Tokyo Megalopolis, which meant that it was the equivalent of 9PM when the _Argo_ made her trek to the Moon and landed in a dock at Moonbase.

At Moonbase, the _Argo_ was soon "invaded" by all of the Space Marines and landing ships who would board for this exercise. Three landing boats, all that the _Argo_ had room for, came aboard in several trips with the Marines and their equipment.

Jonathan Hartnell-Wildstar and his Junior Space Cadet Corps cohorts were among the first to meet the Marines, who jostled, cursed, and yelled obscene marching songs as they trooped aboard the _Argo._ In fact, Jonathan was soon at close range to a particularly nasty, unshaven-looking specimen of Space Marine who grabbed him by the shoulder and yelled, after throwing some paper on the deck, "Hey, _Space Jockey! _Which way to the head! Gotta take a leak!"

"Uh….down past two bulkheads, past that set of blast doors, and it's right there, Private," said Jonathan. "Can't miss it!"

"Gotcha! They're makin' these punk Midshipmen awful young these days, huh, Harvey?" the Marine yelled to one of his buddies.

"Hey, Newmeat!" yelled Harvey at Jonathan. "Hope ya ain't ascared of us!" Harvey gave Jonathan a shove and left laughing with his unshaven buddy.

Derek came down the passage a moment later, overhearing the laughter. "Junior Cadet Hartnell-Wildstar!" he barked. Jonathan came to attention when facing his father. "Yessir!" he said.

"At ease, Cadet," said Derek. Then, he looked at Jonathan, the mess on the deck, and the loud laughter. "Jonathan, what's going on?"

Jonathan sighed. "Marines, Dad. They're acting like…well…Marines."

Derek rolled up his eyes. "They're obviously not a shipboard Trooper or Security unit, so, yeah….they would act like that. Did you order them to claan up their crap?"

"Order them?"

Wildstar sighed. "Jonathan, as long as you're embarked aboard the _Argo_, the people of your unit are considered the equivalent of Midshipmen. You do have the authority to, within regs, command enlisted people. Next time you see crap like _this_," said Derek as he helped Jonathan pick up the papers, "tell them that they're aboard a vessel and not out on a battlefield someplace and that they're to obey the regs of the Star Force. I'm going to give them a lecture when I address this whole company in muster later on, and your Mom's going to do the same with the company she's got! Good thing we only have them on board for a few days. They'll go through our food like locusts."

* * *

In the Messhall, this was already happening.

The Headquarters Company was beginning to snarf up food like crazy.

Nova was expecting to see food vanish like crazy….but she had only semi-expected the Marines to start fights in the Galley. Two of them, ten minutes ago, fighting over some girl. Nova had gotten some Star Force Troopers from Combat Group to break it up. Their services were needed again five minutes later, when two more Marines began another fight over a move in a game of checkers.

Now, Nova was expecting a little better from a Headquarters Company, so, she was stalking the messhall like a Fluff Princess in high dudgeon, asking any Marine she could see in authority, "Where's Major Underwood? Your CO? I want to talk to her? NOW?"

Nova got some ridiculous answers, ranging from, "She's in the Head" to "She's in a locker porking the First Sergeant!" Fnally, Nova's glare got a response from a Sergeant of some authority in this anarchic unit, who told her, "The Old Lady's over there at that table by the bulkhead." He helpfully pointed out the table to Nova before belching.

Nova nodded, and she stalked off to the table, finding a group of Marines laughing as one Marine was chopping at the tabletop with a big combat knife while another boyish-looking Marine sat there with his hand on the table, laughing at him and daring him, in a high voice, "Go on, Mickley! Shove that thing in my hand! I dare ya! Ya lose, you owe me a hundred credits and I get to punch in your Goddman nose before I put ya up on charges!"

Nova looked at the laughing Marines with a glare before one of them noticed and yelled, "YO! Officer on deck!"

The boyish-looking one stopped. It was only then, as the officer got up and turned around, that Nova noticed the boyish-looking officer had breasts and hips. She then noticed Nova's collar and saluted. "Good evening, Ma'am!" she said in an ironic voice.

"First one who's saluted," Nova snapped as she returned a fist-to-the-heart salute. "Do you know where Major Karen Underwood is?"

"You're lookin' at her," said the young officer as she looked at Nova. "You're either Nova Wildstar or the actress who played her in that weepy movie that came out a while ago."

"I'm Commander Wildstar," Nova said. "Major. Your crew is doing a major number on my galley! Haven't you ever trained these people in the basics of shipboard conduct?"

"Sorry, ma'am. Lot of 'em are as green as grass….first big trainin' exercise for this bunch. The cadre of this group is a bunch of veterans. You would not believe the shit we saw on Pluto, and you would not believe the amount of green crap we captured," said Underwood. "Took down eight of them myself," she said as she pattted the AK-01 slung on her shoulder over her the armor pads on her shoulders; the young, dark-haired Marine with the short hair had on combat boots, tight green fatigue pants, an undershirt, and metal and Lexan shoulder pads. "Didja draw my combat issue yet? The armor on the shoulders is important. You got thin little shoulders, so if you spend days in a set of jump armor, it won't rip your shoulders to hell. Your hair's gonna end up straight as hell after about a day or so of wearin' it, though. And you may start smellin' kinda bad."

"Uh…I'm familiar with how jump armor works. I helped design it, and wore it a little on manuevers and testing," Nova said.

"Your role on the project?" said Underwood.

"Ergonomics," Nova replied. "Thanks to me, we got some of that extra cushioning added inside the armor."

"Yeah, it does help," said Karen. Nova looked at her hard. "Yes?" Karen said.

"Would you mind playing mumbledepeg with your XO's knife somewhere other than my Messhall?" Nova sighed.

"I kinda like you, so I'll see about it," said Karen with a wink. She then got up and yelled at her unit, "RULE NUMBER ONE! WE'RE GUESTS HERE! STOP ACTIN' LIKE ASSHOLES!"

There were a couple of boos and hisses, but the yelling calmed down to a more dignified military grumble as Karen looked at Nova and said, "You gotta learn to cuss a little, XO. Not much, 'cause it don't fit you since you're kinda prissy, and a little nerdy, but, trust me, it helps ya now and then. Be nice workin' with ya, ma'am!" said Karen as she grabbed Nova's hand, crushed it lightly, and gave her a strong, firm handshake. "And if you see Mick Gaylord, tell him Karen said he'd better get his shitboids to cool it! Right?"

"Sure," Nova said. "Nice talking with you, Major."

"Likewise, Commander."

Nova took off, shaking her head and smiling to herself. _Well,_ she thought. _At least Underwood has the respect of her delinquents…._

* * *

Nakajima was pissed.

The reason why Heero Nakajima was pissed was because the port side auxilary engine of the _Argo _was not working correctly.

_The problem with the damn engine is that it's drawing 10 more kilovolts than it's supposed to be_, he thought.

Nakajima, therefore, had to work on the engine. He brushed off the help of three of his subordinates, and said, "I'm gonna go in there alone. Only a little adjustment. I can handle it!'

So, Nakajima descended into the port side auxilary engine nacelle of the _Argo_.

The nacelles that held the auxilary engines were below the main engine room, reachable only by small maintenance lifts that went down a deck.

Inside the nacelle, it was very dimly lit. The auxilary engine, a standard, old-style fusion plant connected to the main energy generator by pipes and cables, was powered by its own set of turbines and had its own pressurized Fluorine-5 cooling system. The cooling system, while it usually worked well, could be tricky and inefficient if some of the pumps got out of adjustment.

As Nakajima looked at one of the control panels in the dimly lit space, he realized why the engine was not running right. _Damnit. The second pump is running thirty percent below specs for some Goddamned reason. Have to shut down this engine and keep it down until we can pull that pump._ Nakajima began working on shutting down the system. However, as he worked…he noticed a bad smell…the smell of a sharp, tangy gas.

He could dimly overhear scuffling and banging up in the main engine room above him. "What are they doing up there? Oh, that _idiotic_ combat exercise! Having wargames in my engine room, how stupid! Those foolish Marines had better not wreck anything." He kept on working at shutting down the auxilary engine, only looking up when he saw that the area two meters away was beginning to turn…pink. A pinkish gas filled the air. "DAMNIT! Coolant leak!" he said. A little of the Fluorine-5 gas hit his lungs, and he began to cough and spit. He knew that a small quantity of the gas could possibly hurt him; breathing in a larger quantity of the gas would burn his bronchial passages, and enough of the crap could easily kill.

He also knew that it could easily leach through to the main engine room. He hit an alarm button and tried to get his space helmet and gloves and decided to run for it and seal the space. As he was gettiing his gear, the main seal blew, and the hissing of the Fluorine-5 turned into a roar. Enough hit his trachea that he began to have serious spasms and he began to cough, gasping and wheezing as his throat burned. The space began to fill with the gas.

As he coughed, he heard the lift. To his shock, he could see a smallish, willowy spacesuited form running towards him at full tilt. What he could see of the spacesuit looked yellow, white, and black.

He inhaled more gas, coughing and gasping even worse than before. He grabbed for his helmet, but dropped it. He was barely conscious now.

He dimlly perceived what happened next. The spacesuited figure grabbed him and dragged him off for a bit, solo, in a fireman's carry for a bit, before others came down the lift. Two spacesuited Marines helped the small, slender figure drag him out of there. As he gasped more and passed closer to unconciousness, he saw the spaceuited figure in gold running the lift, getting them up, signalling for them to drag him off, and then he saw the figure punching buttons very fast, closing the blast door.

Before he passed out, he saw the figure was not just boyish in build, but had breasts and hips.

When Nakajima passed out, the spacesuited woman in gold asked one of the Marines, "Corporal? Is it sealed? Is there any further hint of a leak?"

"No, ma'am," he responded on the comm circuit.

The spacesuited figure scanned Nakajima with a small hand-held scanner handed to her by a Mechanical Group Ensign. "Good, no more gas around him!" She then pulled off her helmet and listened for a heartbeat. "Thready, but he's still alive!" she said. "Koshima, are the medics here yet?"

"No, ma'am," said another Corporal.

"You want something done right, Cripes, sometimes you just have to do it _yourself_," Nova Wildstar sighed as she bent over Nakajima, cleared his airway, and began to give him mouth-to-mouth and CPR herself. "Going in there without gear? What an _idiot_!"

* * *

Nakajima woke up four hours later in Sickbay, with a breathing tube, tracheomotomy, and a respirator next to his bed.

He heard a somewhat squeaky, whiny voice saying, "Nova, he's conscious now. You said you wanted him alone?"

"I do," Nova replied. Nakajima noticed she was standing there in her nurse's minidress, sandals, and a stethoscope. She sighed and nodded at Doctor Sane as she looked at the EKG track on the monitor connected to him, and she came up and listened to his breathing sounds, looking at his eyes, knowing he could not speak. "You're awake, Nakajima? Nod your head if you can hear me and know who I am."

Nakajima looked at Nova and nodded, twice. Nova then looked at him and said, "You can't talk right now with that tube in you. Probably a good thing. Because I have some words to say to _you_." Nova gave him a little poke in one of the bangaged parts of his chest. He winced. ""Good. You're quiet. Do you know who pulled you out of there? Do you know who got Marines to help save your miserable butt? Do you know who noticed the gas leak near the hatch and kept you from dying? _I _did! And would you like to know why I saved your life?"

Nakajima looked at her, thinking, _Yeah, so you can bitch at me._

Nova said, "It is because you are a very valuable member of this crew right now, and on this mission, we cannot afford to lose you. That's why. Regardless of the fact that you are a moron, a sexist bigot, and a jackass, your services are needed here, Lieutenant Commander. Are we clear on that?"

Nakajima nodded. He saw a pen and a pad nearby and pointed and motioned to them.

Nova noticed. "Oh? You want those? Here," she said. He took the pen and pad and wrote something. Then, he handed them to Nova.

Nova looked at his note. It read: _**I'M SORRY, MA'AM. THANKS. YOU BELONG HERE MORE THAN I DO. WHAT CAN I BUY YOU TO MAKE UP?**_

Nova smiled a little at him and wrote at the bottom of the pad, "_**SPACE JAVA…STRONG. WHEN YOU GET BETTER"**_

Nova handed him back the pad and said, "Don't think I'm ready to kiss you or anything. I'm not. You're still a jackass. But at least you're a little less rude. Welcome to the Star Force. Get better." Nova gave his hand a pat and briskly took off.

* * *

**LATER THAT DAY….**

Thursday turned to Friday.

On Friday morning, after the training on the Moon, Derek, Nova, Homer, Eager and the rest of the crew saluted as Desslok appeared on the _Argo's_ main screen. They had contacted him on Gamilon to speak with him about recent events, and he was returning their hail at last.

"I'm pleased to hear from you, Commodore Wildstar," said Desslok on the screen. "Congratulations to you with regard to your recent victory against Admiral Rosskovsky. I am so pleased to hear you made fools of him!"

"How did you hear about _that_?" Derek asked.

"I have _many_ means of gathering intelligence," Desslok said. "I need not inform you of them all. Bolar has recently become a thorn in my boot, as well. They've been daring to attack some outlying bases I have in your Galaxy. Of course, we are making them pay for their impudence…along with R'Khell and this Spectran terrorist organization. I have an envoy visiting Spectra shortly to make some demands upon their Government, so I am sure that world will be dealt with. What concerns me somewhat is the rumor we have received that Bolar and R'Khell have created an alliance they call the Interstellar Axis. They appear to have aimed that alliance against us. I think they may well be trying to create further difficulty against us in the future."

"So, then we need to strengthen the bond between our races," Derek said.

"I would say so," said Desslok.

Derek looked at Nova, now at her radar, remembering what Hardy had asked of them. Commodore Wildstar said, "Desslok. It is my understanding that there is a pending commercial deal with Earth to purchase a sample of grain from one of our farmers that is being held up in your Foreign Ministry. The Terran agent involved is named Murchison, and the deal involves a purchase of grain and vegetables by our Empire from a farmer here on Earth known as Nathaniel Hardy. Could you look into this deal for us and see what is delaying it in your Foreign Ministry?"

Desslok nodded. "I certainly will, Commodore Wildstar. Also, as I see Nova in your background, I extend my congratulations to her on her promotion as your First Officer…has she served you well, Commodore?"

"She…she has," Derek said. "And we thank you, Desslok."

"Thank you for the congratulations," Nova said softly.

"You are quite welcome, Nova. You and the Commodore can tell your friend Mister Hardy that the deal is as good as done. I will be in touch, and I thank you. I will pray, as usual, for your success in all of your endeavors," Desslok said as he terminated the conversation with a salute.

* * *

Later that day, at the plantation of Victoria, Nathaniel Hardy opened up his e-mail and was pleased when he opened up a message from his sales agent Murchison. It read:

Nathaniel:

Excellent News!

I'm not sure what has happened, but the logjam on that sale to the Gamilons that was holding us up in the Gamilon Foreign Ministry just broke today as if by magic! A new, higher-ranking General named Yaris has replaced the other agent, apparently by the personal command of Leader Desslok himself! The purchase has been approved by the Ministry; they only need details on delivery of the goods and payment that I'm sure we can work out in a few hours. Expect to be ready to consumate the deal within a week, and expect your earnest money share of the purchase in the next week. Don't know what the Hell happened, but you sure seem to have some connected friends.

Murchison.

Nathaniel Hardy was _very _pleased to receive this particular e-mail. _I don't know how Juliet will take things; we had quite an argument over this business last night, _he thought. _But, like it or not, the die is cast…._

Nathanile then read a second e-mail that confirmed the message of the first. This one read:

To Nathaniel Hardy:

Promise Kept…

Mr. Hardy:

I want to let you and Juliet know that Derek and I spoke to Desslok this morning as we promised. We had a very nice talk with him, and he was most amenable to breaking that deadlock in the Gamilon Foreign Ministry. You can expect something to happen shortly on your business. Good luck to you and Juliet.

Hoping you are well….

Nova.

Mr. Hardy then smiled to himself. _A nice, well, mannered young lady,_ he thought. _I'm so glad she kept her promise…._

* * *

**III. INSPECTIONS AND INTROSPECTIONS**

**Planet Earth**

**San Diego** **Megalopolis**

**Rio Amarillo Apartment Complex**

**Jefferson and Dawn Hardy's Townhouse**

**Saturday, July 9, 2208**

**1300 Hours Local Time**

* * *

Katrina Foxworth-Savela went up the steps of the townhouse that she currently owned in joint ownership with Foxy, and rented to Jefferson Hardy and Dawn Hardy as part of the agreement by which Katrina was being compensated for all of the wrongs and crimes Dawn had wrought upon her. It was very warm, but Katrina was dressed in a black skirted suit, white blouse, tie, and black sandals and she carried a clipboard. Kazuo Foxworth-Savela, her husband, had on a dark suit with a bright red vest and odd-looking psychedelic tie, and he wore weird-looking sunglasses. "Those glasses," Katrina hissed. "You couldn't even look serious for zis? Those glasses—are blue!"

"Dark blue," said Foxy. "We sorta match, you and I."

"Where did you get stupid glasses from?" whispered Katrina as she rang the doorbell to Dawn's townhouse.

"Nova gave them to me. She likes pink psychedelic glasses better than blue ones."

"She look better wearing stupid round glasses than you do! _Ach_!" snapped Katrina. She rang the bell again. "The little snot had better be home. I told her that we were to be expected!"

Dawn answered the door a moment later. She looked frazzled and tired. She was carrying David against her in a sling. Dawn wore shorts and a shirt that was sort of open and she went barefoot and had _very_ messy hair. Little David, who was nursing, wore his diaper and a t-shirt. "Hi," Dawn said. "Just finished tidying up a bit."

"The place had better be tidy, Hardy," snapped Katrina as she came in. She looked around the living room, letting Foxy help her inspect the place. "Dust up above the door," said Foxy as he ran his finger over the trim above the doorway. "Five demerits."

Katrina wrote it down, and then she looked at the coffee table near the couch. "What are these magazines all over the place?" said Katrina.

"Baby magazines," said Dawn in a very small voice.

"Pick the damn things up and put them in your basket," snapped Katrina. "I will not charge you. _This_ time."

Dawn responded, fighting back tears. She thought, _Why does she have to do this? Not fair she owns the place for two years, anyhow. When I told Jeff the other day he was so mad he hung up on me. We've since made up, but…_

Dawn did not know this, but Jeff was beginning to make a quiet arrangement through Nova and her father to buy out the lease and were quietly making arrangements to purchase another home in San Diego near the beach. with In fact, the house in question was Nova and Derek's own townhouse a few doors down in the complex! The Wildstars were selling it because it appeared that the _Argo _was not going to be based out of San Diego for the next few years as they had thought, so they had no further need of the place. The closing was scheduled for later in the summer. The arrangement had been suggested by none other than Juliet Hardy, who was outraged that Dawn had lost their house to Katrina.

Katrina continued the inspection….and finally, when they were done, she turned to Dawn. "You owe me twenty-five more credits!"

"What?" cried Dawn.

"Did you read the lease? I inspect the place. I charge you demerits if messy, a credit per demerit extra rent. If you earn enough demerits, out on the damn street you go. Pay up!" Katrina snapped.

"Sure," sighed Dawn as she opned her purse. _This is a third of what I have_, thought Dawn as she handed over twenty-five credits. _I'll just have to eat a little less, that's all_, she sighed. _I think I am getting fat…._

Katrina said, "I''ll be back next month. Keep the place cleaner!" She slammed the door on her way out.

Dawn sat with David and began to cry.

* * *

Foxy and Katrina arrived back in the Great Megalopolis in Tokyo later that day.

When morning came around, Foxy had to be up early, well before Katrina.

The reason?

He had to keep a promise to her, and make her breakfast in bed!

So, he worked at making it himself. He fried up some sausages, made some pancakes, all by himself, added a lot of _kren_, and then, he brought to tray to his Princess, who was lying in bed in a slinky nightgown as Invidia when he came in.

"What is zis?" she asked.

"Breakfast," he said. Foxy opened the cover on the tray, and Invidia smiled as she smelled the _kren_.

"What are these?" she asked as she poked at the sausages.

"Sausages," he said. "Try them…"

Invidia did not like sausages or breakfast meat that much (that was more Nova's thing…she knew Nova was a decided carnivore at breakfast) but she tried Foxy's sausages. "Not bad," she said. "At least you tried. Did you make these yuorself?"

Foxy nodded. "I sure did."

"You are not a bad cook. Far better than Derek. This might be useful." Something they both knew was that Commodore Derek Wildstar was a _horrible_ cook. He tended to burn everything for some reason.

As Invidia ate, Foxy climbed into bed with her and began to kiss her. She fed him little bits of the pancakes, and he ate them while making faces at her. That made her laugh.

When Invidia was done, she set aside the tray and pulled Foxy on top of her. "Come here," she said.

"Yes?" he said. "What do you want?"

"Guess," Invidia said. She began to kiss him like mad. "You made me breakfast. Now, I want dessert…"

* * *

**IV. VIETNAM**

**Planet Earth**

**Vietnam**

**The Region of Ho Chi Minh City**

**Monday, July 11, 2208**

**1400 Hours Local Time**

* * *

On the _Argo_, only a few days remained for the mission.

The mighty space battleship sat just off the beach near Ho Chi Minh City.

There, the populace on the beach watched the space battleship as the exercise was underway.

Shuttles were taking off all throughout the day, flying Marines back and forth from the space battleship to the exercise site, maybe fifteen kilometers to the east of the city.

On the beach, a young woman in a brief bikini known as Natsuko Ono lay sunning herself as she worked on making some artwork of herself watching the _Argo_ on her laptop. She was a news writer and commercial artist.

"What are they doing?" asked her green-haired friend Mio Shimada. Mio was a gymnast and professional dancer. Mio had a coverup in her bag, but her beach attire (which no one, of course, had any objection to) was to simply go naked….and she lay naked on her beach chair watching the _Argo._

"Unloading ship after ship after ship," said Natsuko. "My sources say that there's some kind of exercise going on. They're off to the east of the city. You missed it, but a few of their crew members got a little shore leave this morning. Guess who I interviewed, even though she was rushing around?"

"Who?" said Mio.

"Nova Wildstar herself. She was scouting the beach with her husband. They are so _cute_."

"What were they wearing?" asked Mio, who was the more air-headed of the two.

"He had on a fundoshi. She had on sunglasses and nothing else! You need to work out! She looks waaay better naked than you do!"

"Does not!" said Mio.

"Does too," said Natsuko.

The argument between the young women continued for a few minutes as another shuttle flew overhead.

It is the occupants of that landing craft to whom we shall refer to next.

That shuttle is more important to this story than Natsuko and Mio.

Far more important…..

* * *

**TEN MINUTES LATER…..**

When the landing craft landed, the hatch hissed open.

A massive blast of hot, humid, tropical air filled the craft as the Marines, Fleet Troopers, Star Force Troopers, and other Star Force members began to groan and curse.

"Damnit, 'Nam is friggin' HOT!" yelled a Sergeant.

"What do you expect, it's fuckin' cold?" cursed a Corporal

Commodore Derek Wildstar came after from the cockpit to find Nova sitting on a bench watching as her immediate unit subordinates cursed and marched off the shuttle. She had dressed in a leather top, metal shoulder pads that were designed to go inside her Jump Armor if she chose to put it on, along with fatigue tights (Derek didn't quite know they existed, but Nova had apparently found them) and a nice new pair of black combat boots.

"Where do you find those things?" he teased. "They're cute, but almost nothing you have on is regulation, Nova."

"I scoured the procurement test area for these," Nova said. "All of these things are things they are trying out." She pushed her hair back; it was soaked with sweat, and her usual cheek-curls were gone because she had sweated them away. "Did you like my beach attire earlier? I loved yours…"

"What beach attire?" Derek teased.

"Precisely," she said. She whispered to him, "I don't want too many of these Marines to know I went naked with you earlier. They might want a repeat performance."

"I don't want that…for them," Derek said. "Now, if I get you deep in the jungle someplace, and nothing is going on and I want to take a swim…"

"In that event, Derek, you shall see a repeat performance," Nova whispered back. She kissed him on the nose and then turned to glare at a Private as Derek snapped, "Private, what are YOU looking at?"

"Nothing, sir! Sir!" said the Marine Private.

"Are you just off Parris Island?" snapped Derek.

"Yes, sir, SIR!" snapped the Private.

"Go get the Commander a Pepsi from the cooler," Derek said. He looked at Nova. "Stay close to me. You're my comm net to everyone else. You're going to have the decoder radio on over your pack…sure you can carry it?"

"Derek, I am NOT weak," Nova snapped.

"But you're slender," he countered.

"So?" Nova said as she grabbed up her combat pack, the comm pack, and her helmet and weapon. She was soon weighed down with about thirty-five pounds of equipment. Given that she only weighed one hundred twenty-five, carrying this junk would be a major workout for her in the hot jungle. "I'll bloody live. I've done this before. Awaiting your orders, sir," she said with a grin.

"Get your unit organized ASAP," Derek said.

"Yessir," Nova replied.

* * *

"

A while later, Derek and Nova were advancing, on point, with a company of soldiers somewhere in the jungle in Vietnam.

"So where is this?" said a Sergeant who looked at Wildstar.

"We're between Ho Chi Minh City and Thu Dau Mot," said Wildstar as he accessed an exercise map on his comm unit. Nova did the same and added, "Derek, we're exactly three clicks away from Thu Dau Mot, which is to the northeast of us."

Derek nodded and said, "Relay that info to your men, Leibovitz."

"Aye, sir," said the Sergeant as he spoke into his own comm device.

A Corporal walked down the road slightly, flanking Nova by about ten meters. Nova said, "Fettman, there's a funny-looking hillock over there...let me go over and scan it…probably a practice mine the other side planted."

"Ma'am, let me scan it," said Fettman.

Nova looked at Derek, who nodded at her. "Get to it, Corporal," Nova said.

Fettman went over to scan it, and he began to say, "Hey…this thing is putting out live waves…it…"

Then, a moment later, there was an explosion. It was not a practice explosion.

Nova screamed as shrapnel filled the area. She threw herself on top of Derek, and gasped as she heard metal actually pinging off her helmet.

Wildstar then looked up. Fettman was lying there moaning with his legs mostly blown off.

A moment later, enemy fire raked the whole area near the rice paddy. Derek heard two of their privates screaming as they were shot through the gut with blue laser fire. Leibovitz was yelling orders in his radio. Nova looked up and said, "Derek, I need to get to Fettman! If I can stop the bleeding, we can medevac him and give him bionics…I…"

"KEEP YOUR ASS DOWN, COMMANDER! We're gettiing shot at!" Derek snapped, physicially restraining Nova from running.

Then, a moment later, a screaming figure was running right for them. He was in uniform….a filthy, dirty uniform, and he carried an old AK-47 slugthrower with a bayonet.

He was trying his damndest to run Commodore Wildstar through with the thing.

Derek kicked him, and he fell, but the man got up and retrieved his weapon again, stabbing at Derek's leg, which he missed by a few centimeters. Derek flew his legs around, tripping him. As he fell, Derek flew on top of him, punching away, as Nova pivoted around to the enemy soldier's head.

A moment later, Nova saw her opportunity to help, and she grabbed the enemy soldier's hair and put her combat knife against his jugular as he tried to get Derek's sidearm.

"TALK!" Nova screamed in his ear. "Who are you and where do you come from?"

"We serve the spirit of Yvona Josiah, whore!" he roared as he reached for something on his belt. Derek got his sidearm, and jumped up and gutshot the soldier, just as some hot blood sprayed his uniform. "What the…?" he yelled.

He looked up, and he noticed that Nova had just quickly and ruthlessly cut the soldier's throat. "Sorry about the mess, Derek," she quipped. "I'm fine…"

"Stop scaring me like that, Goddamn you!" Derek yelled as he slapped his wife on the bottom and signed for her to run.

She followed him, and, a moment later, they both tumbled into a hole as more enemy fire raked the area. In a secure position, Nova unlimbered the mike on the commset as Derek nodded. Safe in the foxhole, she softly said, "Pagoda, this is Crystal Palace, we're at Foxtrot Lima four niner on the grid, and we're taking live fire from Josiahites; I'm helping to cover Shogun; send assistance, over."

"Crystal Palace, we read you," said Homer back on the _Argo_. "Sending reinforcements when we can; Hardy reports engaging R'Khell planes; it's a mess out here, XO. Over!"

"Over," Nova said. She then whispered to Derek, "Help's coming…but I don't know how long the fire brigade's gonna take. Homer says the Tigers are in action against R'Khells."

"This is a fucking mess," sighed Derek.

"Yeah, you're telling me," Nova laughed. "Thanks for keeping me out of trouble before."

"No big one. I don't want to bring you home to the kids in a body bag," he said as fire went off in the distance. There was another blast and a scream; someone else had hit one of those damned booby traps. "Remind me never to let you get a knife against me throat when we argue…you're kind of messy…"

"Doing what they pay me for; covering my Commander," Nova said. "And my husband," she whispered as she gave him a kiss on the nose.

"Hey, no nookie. It's distracting."

"Foxholes are not meant for nookie, sir. I don't like making love to you in slimy mud," Nova whispered.

"Too bad, might be fun to try," Derek quipped back.

"Shut up!" Nova whispered as she tapped his cheek.

"There's one thing to be said for being in a foxhole with you," Derek whispered a few minutes later.

"What?"

"It's never boring,XO."

"Thanks, Skipper," Nova whispered back.

* * *

Day turned into night.

They were still coming sporadically, but they had gotten enough of a break to be able to dig a slit trench about five meters away behind some bushes. Nova was the first one to answer Nature's call as Derek covered her, and then, she did likewise for him to allow him to relieve himself. They wondered which bidder had gotten the bid for EDF combat toilet paper, because the crap felt like sandpaper when they used it.

They returned to the foxhole, and shared a few combat rations and some water, realizing as they drank how fuzzy their mouths had gotten.

Derek then manned guard for a while while Nova fitfully slept. At about 0300 of the following day, they changed positions, and Derek tried to sleep as Nova knelt there in the crud and mud of the foxhole, looking out at the enemy positions over her laser AK-01 Carbine.

Derek slept. When he awoke, the sun was up, and Nova was still there, silently manning sentinel over him. She was not yawning, but he could see her hands shaking. "What time is it?" he whispered.

"0730," Nova said. "I let you sleep."

"How the hell are you keeping awake?"

"I've been eating instant coffee right from the pouch," Nova said in a monotone. "It works."

"Yeah, used to do it when pulling allnighters in the Academy. Eat too much of that crap, though, and you'll be giving the kids space java right through your milk from those cute firm boobies when we get home," he whispered as he caressed her breasts.

"Need to stay awake," muttered Nova with an annoyed smile. Like him, she was now filthy, and she smelled like used blood, mud, assorted crud, and crap. She watched Derek trying to run a dry razor over his face and she asked, "Now what the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to shave," he muttered. "Good thing you don't have to do this."

"Why are you doing this now?" Nova whispered.

"Trying to look halfway decent for my wife. She hates me with a beard," Derek quipped. "You know that, XO?"

"Derek, it can wait," Nova said with a grin as their radio crackled to life. "Crystal Palace," she whispered. "You stab 'em, we slab 'em…"

"Hey, this is the ship," Sasha said. "You guys can move. Rabinowitz cleaned that rathole out while you two were trying to sleep. "Meet us in town when you can move…"

"Roger that," said Derek. "Nova, see who's alive and kicking and get medics out here if we have any live wounded. Then we're heading to Ho Chi Minh City for some real lunch."

"Gotcha," Nova replied.

* * *

That afternoon, stinking with the funk of combat, Derek and Nova tried three places; got thrown out of them because they smelled so bad, and they finally managed to meet Sasha in a fourth place, am outside bistro that consented to serve the smelly couple in combat gear and the neat little half-Iscandarian in her blue uniform.

Nova, Derek, and Sasha thus sat eating some Vietnamese food, looking at the city (there were a few small fires burning here and there, which was a leftover from the R'Khell bombing) and they talked about funny, inconsequential things.

While they spoke, Nova heard a voice, accented with a heavy East German accent, stating, "Interesting that we meet here, Commander Wildstar! Ahh, my Nova. I never forget a face!"

"Captain Denneman?" Nova said. The newcomer nodded and bowed to Nova.

"He's the renegade we heard about!" Derek said.

"No, he's the man who helped rescue the _Danube_ back in 2205 when I was in command of her and we took some major damage in a little run-in with the R'Khells," Nova said. Nova remembered Captain Kalevi Denneman on sight. He was a man who was hard to miss. Captain Denneman was about 6 foot 5 inches tall oldmeasure, and he weighed about a hundred and eighty pounds. Having been born in 2162, he was now about forty-six, but he didn't look quite that old. It was the hair, most likely. His hair was very long, a deep red color. It actually extended to just beyond his hips, like Sasha's hair. He had very pale skin, striking amber-colored eyes, and he had a crescent-shaped scar on his right cheekbone. This day, he wore a long black leather greatcoat with a high red-lined collar not that much unlike the sort of peacoat Derek wore, except that his coat was by no means military-issue.

Denneman was currently a Privateer. Derek knew that he was one of those who had been granted Letters of Marque to pursue the R'Khells and Josiahite cultists off Earth some years ago; he didn't know when. But Nova had told Derek years ago that she had heard he had been "koshered" with his Letters of Marque sometime in 2204. Beforehand, she said, rumor had it that he was a renegade like the Great Pirate Harlock, only of a far bloodier sort, leading a shadowy terrorist cell known as The Coterie.

The exact origin of The Coterie was one of those things already hidden in the official fog that surrounded the last days of the Gamilon War, but it was said that they were a group of men and women who began their own private war with the Gamilons when they didn't agree with the methods the EDF used. No one quite knew how they got off Earth, or how their renegade vessel, the _Geistdrache_, had been built…except, perhaps, for Nova. She had never even told Derek the full story, since she considered herself bound in confidence to Denneman, who wounds she had treated once, but she had told the EDF that Denneman and his crew had saved her and her command from a very bad situation back in 2205 and had allowed them to continue with their mission.

"So, what are you doing here?" Derek asked.

"We heard about your…predicament…through our channels," said Denneman. "We provided that indigenous nationalistic unit with some weapons that allowed them to help your unit when all of you were under attack from those Josiahites. One thing we both hate are those racist religious fanatics who favor none but a few Anglo-Saxons and condemn everyone else. _Schweinehunden_!" he snapped.

"I know," said Nova. "I'll…never forget it…when my Aunt went mad and went over to their side. Nor will I forget it that her son, my own cousin Samuel, is now on their side, carrying on his mother's twisted racist legacy…."

"I wanted to thank you and yours for what you did today," said Denneman. "That's why I offered the aid I did. You and your spouse, the Commodore, aren't like most EDF. You see, you have real ideals. You are not just robots following orders. You earned my undying respect when you rebelled against EDF to fight the Cometines. I feel…well, I feel as if I am here to perform a Tarot reading for someone."

"A Tarot reading?" Derek said. "With cards?"

"Not just with cards," said Sasha. "A good reader…he or she captures…more…."

"And so," Derek said. "Who do you feel that this is for?"

"It's for me," Nova said. "Captain, I remember the last time we met that you said you were good at this. You have given us two favors, and I gave you one when I helped heal you that time after that battle was over. May I ask another favor of you, and ask you to perform a reading for me?"

Denneman paused. It felt right, somehow. Strange, but right. "All right, I will gladly do so. Let us do so."

* * *

So, in that warm afternoon, after the battle, Nova sat with Derek at her side, looking at some of the mud dried into her undershirt. She thought, _I'm probably going to have to throw this away after we get back to wherever I get our billet for the night here in Ho Chi Minh City. That was a horrible couple of days of battle. I remember Captain Denneman telling me that he was good at this. I wonder what the cards are going to say?_

Sasha asked Nova (while Kalevi was taking his deck out of its box and wrapper) "Auntie, what is the basic principle behind Tarot again?"

"It's an ancient art," Nova replied. "It's supposed to be something like a symbolic picture of the Universe, based somewhat on the data of the Holy Qabalah. The Qabalah was a system created by ancient, learned Rabbis and wise men. Part of it touches upon a science known as Gematria, a science in which the numerical value of a Hebrew word, each letter being also a number, links that word with others of the same value, or a multiple thereof. I used to pooh-pooh this until I did some reading, Sasha, and I found out that some of the ancient magical arts are actually a form of science…."

"And we always believed the same thing on Iscandar!" Sasha said. "In fact, a word we have for the Applied Psionic and Mystical Arts, known in the Iscandarian as the _F'drajshina,_ translates to words in your Common English that mean, "The Science of the Mind and Spirit."

"I don't believe in this stuff, but it looks kinda interesting," said Derek.

"It is _most_ interesting," said Captain Denneman, "Sasha, I find it interesting that on Iscandar you believe that these arts are a form of science. People like our good Commodore here have derided them as nonsense, or worse, as Devil Worship, for centuries upon centuries."

"I never _said_ it was Devil Worship!" said Commodore Wildstar as he exhaled a deep breath. "I just said…I'm not sure I believe in it. I didn't say I didn't believe in it…"

"Then your mind is open to the idea this could be of benefit?" said Denneman.

"Yes, it is," said Commodore Wildstar.

Nova said, "Are these things shadows of things that will be, _or may_ be?"

"It depends upon how you see them," replied Kalevi. "But, Commodore, I forgive you your skeptical attitude, as I see that you are a man who deals with concrete details. Only now are people beginning to realize that there appears to be a science behind the science that makes this work. At least you appear to have something of an open mind. Anyway," said Denneman as he picked up the Tarot Deck and smiled at Nova. "Shall we begin?"

Nova yawned, and flexed her toes in the flip-flops she had exchanged for her combat boots under the table. She looked at the deck and said, "That looks beautiful."

"Yes, _Liebchen_," said Kalevi Denneman with a smile. "It's a reproduction of one of the ancient Thoth decks. I like the art."

Nova then said, "Would you like me to shuffle?"

Denneman responded with, "Ja... hand over hand. Like this…" He then showed Nova how to shuffle the deck.

Nova followed his directions, moving carefully as she shuffled, trying to put her mind into a calm, peaceful, receptive attitude. When she had finished shuffling, Nova put down the deck. "Next?" she said.

Captain Denneman quietly split the pile into three. He said, "Choose…."

Nova looked at the piles. She said, "The second pile… This one."

Denneman nodded and, he again whispered a blessing to the _Da'at_, or Goddess as he gently took that pile and then he set the remainder aside. He then picked up the pile Nova that chose…

Derek Wildstar sat and watched, filled with interest...but somehow apprehensive. He had seen a few Tarot readings years ago, some in the Academy. All of the readings he had seen were somewhat strange, and they all had odd results. He thought, _Every time those cards seem to speak...something weird happens…_However, he thought that maybe the result might be different here….

Kalevi quietly began to turn up the cards. He looked at them, but as he did so, a look of confusion entered his golden eyes. He pushed his hair off his brow and whispered, "This is... I have never seen anything like this before…meine Gotten!"

Nova looked on and she clasped Derek's hand and said, in a very soft voice-almost scared, "What is it?"

"The vibrations I am feeling from this are strange," said Sasha as she began to shiver. "I…."

"Is it HIM?" Nova demanded. She wanted to know if the unpredictable, dangerous, chaotic, and amoral spirit of the Dark Lord Ekogaru was disrupting this reading. Cold was a sign of the maliign spirit's appearance. If so, she wanted to stop…NOW.

"Nein," said Kalevi as his hands shook. "That _verdamnte_ demon spirit and Deep Black Sorceror visited me once on the _Geistdrache_ to mock me, for his own vile purposes, but I would never put my Arts to use serving HIS agenda. so I definitely know what he feels like. I feel…something else. Something older. Something more primal. I am a practitioner of the Magical Arts myself, albeit in a far different sense than your Dark Lord. But…once again... I have to ask you... do you want me to continue?" Denneman said while passing a shaking hand over his face. It appeared as if he didn't want to continue! He again said, "Meine Gotten," as he wiped his brow.

Nova sat, shut her eyes, crossed herself, and said, "Yes."

Derek sat holding his breath. There was much fear and concern there in his eyes. He almost wanted to stop the reading, but a look from Nova told him "no".

Captain Denneman then began to reveal the cards. He said, "Here… in the center... is the Nine of Cups. It's called the Wish Card... and when it appears, it means the best of the very best, regardless of what it is with. To the right... Interference, the Eight of Swords... to the right, the Knight of Disks. Strength... a prevailing against all odds. Here, lies the House of Stone.. The Moon in the center. Lust to the left, and The Fool is to the right."

Derek asked, "That symbolizes?"

Nova said, "It means the doing of all the right things for all the right reasons... yet matters beyond the obvious and the seen prevent success."

"Ja," said Denneman. "Fine insight. Wih this card, some of it is simply not *knowing* some of the facts. Some of it is naivete. And the last bit is just bad luck. Nearby, the House of Change... "

Denneman closed his eyes. He swallowed hard. "but, in a high position, near it :... there lies the Tower. With it, the Ten of Swords... Ruin. And... Death."

"My God!" cried Nova. She gave Derek a stricken look, and then looked at Sasha, and lastly, at Kalevi, with tears brimming in her eyes. "I know that card."

"What does it point to?" Derek asked.

"He already said it," Nova said. "Death. My death. Probably…I would guess…a premature death."

Denneman said, "We should stop now. What I am feeling…."

"What are you feeling?" Nova said.

"I can feel it," said Sasha. "The Cosmos themselves are beginning to move! Captain Denneman! Stop this! I hate what I am feeling! And you are upsetting my aunt!"

"That is not for you to decide!" said Denneman harshly. "It is not your reading, _maedchen_. It is your Aunt's reading. Nova? Do I stop or do I continue?"

Nova clasped her hands. Then she said, "Please go on...even if it means I am going to die..."

Derek looked at Nova with fear.

The Privateer Captain's hands shook as he upturned the final Tarot Cards. "This card… Outside your knowledge or control. House of the Hidden. The Empress... _renewal_. Great feminine power beyond all bounds. The Great Mother in all Her holiness. With Her... the Ten of Wands, Oppression. The Devil, to Her other side. The Lady in triumph, through trickery in some way...and overall.. The Two of Cups. Love... flanking that.. the Universe... and Adjustment. This means that things will fall into balance at the end. The power of Love strengthening the arm of Justice. Wisdom from deepest adversity. A sort of transcendence. I…I can explain no more. _Dass ist alles_," he said, covering his face with his shaking hands.

Nova said, "So what does all this mean?"

Sasha said, "Auntie…this means…the same thing that you have guessed. And my vibrations back up what the Cards say. This means that you will die. But you will return in some guise."

At that, Derek got up against his own will... his body moving before his brain engaged. It was rather as if he had been shot or stabbed.

Nova looked hard at the cards…..got up, and said, "Derek…I….I…can't!" Then, her eyes rolled up in her head and she passed out, slamming into the table and scattering the cards as she fell.

"MEDICS!" Derek yelled. "Get over here NOW! Damnit! Nova's just collapsed!"

* * *

Nova came to a while later in a field ambulance. The first thing she saw was Derek's face. "Derek…" she whispered. "You're okay?"

"No! Are you okay?" Derek said.

"Where's Captain Denneman?" Nova murmured.

"He helped me carry you to this ambulance…then he disappeared after he asked a few questions of the medics," Commodore Wildstar said. "Pity. There is so much I wanted to ask him about…."

"And the _Geistdrache_ has left Earth again," Sasha said. "I sensed his departure. He came like the South Wind, and he left like the North Wind. Where he has gone…I do not know. He stayed only long enough to see that you would recover, Nova. But someday we may see him again…"

* * *

**V. A TIME OF R & R….**

**Planet Earth**

**Vietnam**

**The Region of Ho Chi Minh City**

**Wednesday, July 13, 2208**

**0320 Hours Local Time**

* * *

Derek and Nova spent the day on Ho Chi Minh City, working on organizing the breakup of the exercise. Nova assisted with wounded, and Derek did head counts. They had lost maybe one hundred and fifty men (killed in action) and they had fifty-two wounded from the mess.

Finally, it was late evening, going into the next morning, when the filthy young couple went into the Red-Light District in Ho Chi Minh City, where they found a sleazy (but somewhat clean) Love Hotel that catered to military folk such as themselves. They paid for a room, and Nova kissed Derek and told him to wait in the corridor as she made herself presentable for him…for another sort of recreation.

Finally, Nova's voice came through the door softly (they had made it clear to the _mama-san_ they had _no_ need of any the whores, thank you), and Derek walked up to the door, grinning his butt off.

Derek opened the door to the hotel room, and looked in….

….where he found the surprise of his life.

There was a large bed, that sat before something that looked like a glittery curtain. The bed was covered in pink satin sheets, and it was round, and very large.

Soft music was playing, and there was a huge ice bucket full of champagne.

But, the centerpiece of the room happened to be Nova, who lay naked in the middle of the bed. She looked stunning. She had made a wonderful metamorphosis…having stripped off every bit of the muddy Marine uniform she had worn for the past two days, and having gotten herself beautifully clean for her pleasantly stunned husband.

"Derek?" she said in a happy, teasing tone as she smiled at him with her legs up….and open. "Would you like to jump into the rack with me? Right now?"

There, her body literally screamed to him, "I WANT YOU!"

Her womanhood was wet, pink, and dewy with her arousal, and her nipples were at attention. Nova also had a small basin of water nearby, and soap.

"Nova…I…"

"I got my motor running just for _you_," Nova said with a big, happy smile. "It's warm in here, I'm totally naked, and I'm _waiting_ for you! C'mon, Derek…you were saying you wanted me in that Foxhole before? I didn't want to then, and I'm sorry, because it was filthy in there and we were both really dirty. But now…"

"Who says I'm _waiting_?" Derek said with a big grin as he tore his filthy combat uniform shirt off. His boots followed, and then, last of all, his pants and undergarments went. He threw his dog tags across the room, and Nova laughed as they landed in the champagne bucket.

Then, he crawled to her at high speed, his manhood as prominent in its arousal as if were carved from stone. The first thing Nova did was dragged him into the bathroom with the basin…where she gave him a very erotic bath as he sat on the side of the tub. "mmmmmmm, you smell good!" Derek said as she washed him and played with his body as she cleaned him up. "Is that coconut?"

"It sure is," Nova whispered in a sultry voice as she took him in her arms when they came back out to the bedroom. She began to gasp and moan as he began to kiss her breasts, sucking hard at her nipples. A little of her warm milk came out in his mouth as he sucked; her milk was almost dried up now, but some still came out nonetheless as he sucked very hard. Later, at home, Nova would happily reunite with Alex and Ariel in the nude in their warm house right before getting into the bath, and they would find the bit of milk they could get from their Mommy to be most welcome.

Right now, though, Derek was not a baby, and he had other things on his mind. As he kissed and sucked Nova, she arched her back and cried out, and then let her head drop, shaking happily as his hand slipped down to her genitals.

Her toes curled up with utter delight as he found her womanhood….tenderly opening her like a flower with his fingers, and working gently at her until he found her hardened, aroused little spot. He teased her there for a few moments with his fingers as she grabbed his manhood with a tender, trembling hand and began to play with him, making sure that he was not left out from the banquet of pleasure.

They had, of course, been married for years. Derek found that the magic of lovemaking with his dear wife was that, somehow, she managed to make every time they had together a little different; familiar but never boring on the one hand, and new with the other. Derek noticed as they made love that the lighting effects in the room changed; the walls in the hotel room seemed to be holographic. The background behind Nova now looked like a sunset.

"You smell like coconut all over, right down to your toes," Derek whispered as she curled up like a little ball on the bed for a moment, and he ran his fingers down her long leg with his left hand, going down her calf, over her ankle, soft instep, and down to her somehow wonderfully soft toes, which curled up as he touched them with his left hand while his right hand explored the charms she had between her legs.

"It's….God….the…bath stuff…you…purchased for me on Christmas 2200…remember…our first quick little Christmas together? It was…in my pack..I…"

"Where's that uniform?" he whispered.

"It was filthy…I threw it away," Nova said…"Right now, Derek, I _have_ no clothes to even put on myself….like that? I'm going to have to go back to the ship and go home….either wrapped in your shirt…or…naked! Unless you buy me some clothes, that is….," Nova said, teasing him.

"What were you up to while you were waiting for me with the door closed?"

"Taking..taking…a bath…and touching myself…thinking of you…I…oh GOD!"

Nova screamed as he attacked her there all over again with his hands, and then kissed his way down her breasts, down her abdomen, which was trembling, and down over her mound to that spot, which he kissed, teased, and pleasured.

Nova was soon spread out on the bed, shaking with delight and rapture. Behind her, the background had become galactic. To Derek, it looked like her beautiful nude body was floating Goddess-like in the Cosmos.

He wondered again what the strange Tarot Card prophecy which read; _You will die, but return to him renewed and blazing with power_ meant. The toes of her bare feet curled again and again as Nova threw up her hand and exploded all over the place with a melting climax, even as she was being touched and kissed most intimately by him.

He did not know that the background somehow predicted their future as, on one hand, they would be parted, but then reunited in a magnificent blaze of glory that would herald the end of an Old Order, the fall, at last, of the Dark Lord and the birth of a new age for Earth

The background changed again, from night to a dusk-like shadow of the Morning as Nova made Derek lie down and said, in a trembling voice…."Let me be on top, darling…I'll make you feel so good….just enjoy it…I love you so much!"

Derek Wildstar thus lay there, passive, as Nova crawled atop him like a curious little cat…smiling a little as she sucked his nipples….and then took him in her mouth, arousing him anew and afresh as she sucked at him, bringing him…almost…but not quite…to the point of climax.

Then, she stopped, caught her breath, allowed Derek to catch his breath….

…and then she got on top of him…

…she let her sex slide open to him as she impaled herself upon him as he gasped and thrust at her. He admired her as they made love…Nova was slender, and very willowy, but she was muscled in all of the right places, like a well-developed feline. Derek noticed that the outline of her rib cage and the fine muscles of her firm belly were very prominent in this angle as they made love…and her breasts were gorgeous.

Derek thought of asking her if, one day, when they got back, if she would go to the Blue Water water park with him again on a hot, hot day…waiting for a day when it would be clothes-optional….so he could actually take her there in the nude, wearing only, perhaps, her ball cap and a pair of whitewater rafting sandals. Or, if not nude…maybe just dressed in a very, very small bikini.

Nova thrust back as their dance reached a new crescendo, going on, and on, and on as Nova rode the rollercoaster of pleasure again, and so did he, their breathing turning to gasps as, again, Nova climaxed, followed by her dear husband as he yelled her name again and again and again.

Finally, they collapsed against each other, gasping, crying, and then Nova began to gently laugh. She smiled at Derek and said, "That was GREAT!"

"Yeah?" Derek replied as he played with her hair."

"Uh-huhhhh," Nova said. "Thank you, sir! May I have another?"

"You _what_?" Derek teased.

"I'm not tired yet," Nova said.

And, as the Commodore was to discover…Nova was far, far from tired.

In fact, she was having the time of her life.

They went on like that…far, far into the night….

* * *

When the morning came, Derek woke up and pulled on only his Star Force pants, without knowing where Nova was….

….until he heard a nice rustling of a silken material…..

Nova then entered the room, her lovely nakedness gracefully but lightly clothed in an exquisite pink _ao dai_, or traditional tunic/dress of Vietnam. A garment of that type was often worn with slacks, but Nova had opted to go without in the heat, keeping her hips, quite a bit of her seal-curve bottom, and her long legs bare.

"That looks gorgeous on you," Derek said as Nova sat on the bed beside him and gave him a kiss.

"Thank you," Nova replied as Derek noted she was carrying a _katana._ "Where did you get all this?"

"The mistress of the hotel said this all belonged to her daughter. When she saw me out in the hall in just your Star Force shirt, she thought it was cute but that I needed something more…elegant…to walk around Ho Chi Minh City in. So I tried this on and she let me keep it and the sword. She said….her daughter died in one of the attacks led by the Josiahites and she was grateful that we've freed them of the scourge of that cult…"

Nova then kicked on her thin pink flip-flops, which looked perfect on her bare feet with the silk garment. Then she sat on the bed again with Derek and laughed as he ran his hand over her bottom under the _ao dai_….and then he found her charms….only barely clothed by part of the _ao dai. _Nova smiled as Derek caressed her there, and he asked, "…is this all you have on you?"

Nova then undid a clasp at her collar and let down a small zipper just far enough to bare one of her breasts. Then, she said, "Yes, Derek. I'm totally naked under this silk. It feels good…I…..,mmmmmmmmm" she said as Derek touched her breast with one hand and teased her womanhood with the other. Nova let him work a bit more with the zipper as she went into her husband's lap with her garment wide open and her nude body again fully exposed in the humid warmth.

Nova thus kicked off her thong sandals, lay back on the bed frontally nude, and, still clothed in her _ao dai_, she spent the next half hour or so letting Derek have his way with her until she ended up totally naked in his lap with her arms around him as he just took her with his pants down in a sweet, playful bit of morning delight

Whem they were done making love and lay spent in each other's arms, Nova then said, "We need to wash up. Then, we'll find a place for breakfast…after we get dressed…."

"Yeah…we do need to wash up and dress," Derek added.

They kissed again, and went off to their business….

* * *

They took their shuttle back to the _Argo, _where Nova turned quite a few male heads in a nice way as she made her way to their cabin holding Derek's hand. When they were both back in their proper shipboard uniforms, they returned to the the First Bridge, thanked the crew, and then Nova took the helm for one last time as the _Argo_ manuevered away from the beach off Ho Chi Minh City and launched half an hour later from the sea. She made two orbits of Earth, landing back in the East China Sea close to Okinawa. She then cruised along to the Tokyo Megalopolis region, putting in at an above-ground dock at Yokosuka at fourteen hundred hours to the cameras of the world press.

Once they handed operational command of the vessel over to Sandor, who had met them at the dock for a joyful reunion with Diane now that he was out of the hospital….Nova went back to their cabin with Derek, changed back into only her _ao dai_ and sandals, and they took their Jet Recon Boat to fly right back to their house. The sound of "_Argo_ Departing, XO Departing" on the speakers in their Jet Recon Boat was one of the most wlecome sounds they had heard in days as Derek and Nova Wildstar went back home at last on July 14, 2208.

**Ju;y 14, 2208….**

**Fifteen Hundred Hours…**

**Wildstar Residence…. **

Teri Forrester had been about to give Nova and Derek a piece of her mind….until she saw Alex and Ariel running up to them at the door and screaming, "Mommy! Daddy! Bathtime! _Bathtime!_" Teri had been in a yukata, having given the toddlers lunch and now about to give them their bath and a bottle. Now, she guessed there might be no need for the bottle as Ariel, in her mother's arms, somehow got her mother's _ao dai_ (which Teri thought was very pretty) open and got her mommy's breast out. "Still work, Mommy?" she said.

"Yes, dear, it does, although you're going to be a big girl soon and won't need this much longer," Nova said as she let Ariel nurse while they walked to the bathroom.

Two minutes later, in a rain of giggles and rustle of clothes, Teri was helping Nova by folding her ao dai while she and Derek sat on the bath stools in the bathroom, unselfconsciously stripped down as they sat with their bare little toddlers in their laps, washing them down Japanese-style with soap, sponges, and spray shower heads as they got them ready for a soak and play session in the warm water of their tub.

Then, they heard the doorbell chiming. "Karl!" Teri yelled to her husband. "Would you answer that?"

Karl Forrester, clad in shorts and a men's undershirt, answered the door, to find Mark Venture standing there with his wife Holly, fanning themselves. Both of them had on swimwear and flip-flops. "Hi, Mister Forrester. Is Derek home yet?" Mark asked.

"Yes, he and Nova just got back….they're in the bathroom with the babies," said Karl. "Why are you two in swimwear?"

Holly blushed at herself, near-naked in a very small bikini. "I'm sorry, Mister Forrester, but our climate control unit in our house died and we can't get it restarted. Do you think Mark and I could stay here overnight until we get it fixed?"

"You'd have to ask the lady of the house, " said Karl. He ran into the bathroom and asked, "Nova, Derek, it's your old friends, Mark and Holly. Can they come in, or would you prefer to wait until you're done with the babies?"

"They can come in," Nova said. "Let them know it's bathtime and that I'm _not_ decent if you haven't already…"

Holly came in a moment later, smiling at Nova and Derek in their skin as they washed the little ones on their laps. Then, Nova took both children and began to let them nurse as she sat with them on the floor. Holly was soon kneeling on the floor near them in her swimsuit, tickling the toddlers' little bare feet and little bottoms as Nova smiled, obviously delighted with her children as she fed them and caressed them in her lap.

Holly almost wanted to cry as she looked at Nova; a sweet picture of maternal care, peaceful, vulnerable, innocently going naked in the heat to care for her little ones, sweet, unashamed, tender, and as Derek played with her hair, very much in love with their father as she kissed him and then blushed as Derek gently caressed her back and a bottom that was as smooth and flawless as her babies' bottoms. Derek then tickled his children and then tickled the bottom of one of Nova's bare feet as he then kissed his wife and then checked the bath water. "It's just about ready, dear."

"They're getting pretty big, Nova," said Mark as he stepped in, comfortable in the warm bathroom in just his swim trunks.

"They're getting more different," said Nova as she looked at her daughter. "Look at Ariel….she's losing the baby fat. I think she's going to be a looker, don't you?"

Mark nodded and asked, "When we have our son, can he date her?"

They all laughed at that.

Nova then looked at Alex and said, "He's getting to be like his dad…."

"In what way?" said Mark..

"His mouth,' Nova said with a giggle. "Oh, the things you pop out with, Alexander," Nova said as she washed his little bottom again with a sudsy hand.

Alex stopped feeding and said with a very earnest voice. "Mommy…something tell you!"

"Yes?"

Alex grinned and swung around on his mother's thigh, with a hand on his little exposed peepee. "Gotta go again!" he squealed.

"Holly, quick,, get an old basin out of the batheroom cabinet!" Nova said breathlessly. She did so, and, a moment later, while holding himself, Alex took a controlled pee for the first time in his life, aiming more or less for the basin as Derek, Nova, Mark, Holly, Karl and Teri all applauded and laughed. Derek then picked Alex up and gave him a big kiss.

"How did you get the idea to do that, sport?" Derek asked.

"Watching Daddy potty room!" Alex said brightly.

"How else did you get the idea to do that?" Nova said.

"No make Mommy wet!" Alex said as they all laughed.

"Derek, go get out the potty chair we bought and set aside!" Nova said happily. "The blue one…"

Derek set Alex back on his mother's lap and kissed her, clothing his nakedness in a towel around his waist before he left.

"When Ariel go potty?" said Ariel happily.

"As soon as she wants to after her bath!" Nova said as she hugged her daughter.

* * *

"I'm going to check on Star," Teri Forrester said a few minutes later. "Sasha and Deke will be over in a while, bringing Jonathan home from the _Argo_ with them, Derek. Are you decent?"

"Yeah, I got dressed a minute ago," Derek said as he stood there in only a pair of cutoff jeans shorts, having found the potty chair for Alex. Holly and Mark then smiled at each other a few minutes later as they watched Nova in the tub with Alex and Ariel, soaking with them for play because they were already washed, Japanese-style. They giggled as Nova pushed a toy boat around in the water and made goofy noises with her mouth, imitating a motor as she pushed the boat around the kids. Derek was leaning over the tub, splashing Nova and the kids with his fingers. Alex splashed at his father. Derek joined in on the fun in the tub as he splashed Alex and Alex splashed back. Nova squealed as her boy splashed her, and then splashed his sister. Ariel gave him a look and splashed back.

Nova sat there making the most ludricrous faces at her babies, making them squeal with laughter as Derek leaned over them and began to make doggie noises, barking and panting at Nova and the kids.

"Down, boy!" Nova yelled as she then meowed at Derek.

Holly could barely keep from wettting herself at the sight of the usually dignified Captain and Executive Officer of the _Argo_ acting like they were about four years old themselves as they laughed and made goofy noises together in their bathroom. Alex was beginning to howl like a hyaena, and Ariel was snarling like some kind of tiger.

"Guys, if we filmed this and transmitted it to the Fleet…! It'd be priceless!" laughed Mark.

"No, you're NOT!" laughed Nova.

"Mommy! Steal daddy pants!" yelled Ariel.

"NO!" Derek said as he stepped away from Nova as she winked at him.

"Steal daddy pants?" said Holly.

"Yeah…sometimes I steal his pants and drag him in here with us," Nova said.

"How do you steal his pants, Mrs. Wildstar?" Mark asked as Nova primly covered her bosom with her hand.

"You _don't_ want to see it," Nova said sweetly as she splashed Derek in the face. "It can get…ugly," Nova said with a wink.

"HEY! No fair!" Derek said.

Nova pulled down an eyelid and stuck out her tongue at her husband.

"Let's get out of here before this turns too ugly," said Mark.

"When do you think you'll get your air conditioning fixed?" Nova said.

"Soon, I hope," said Holly, who was very hot in her swimsuit.

"When we get dried off and decent," Nova said. "Let me come over and look at it. Maybe I can save you two some money. I know how to fix the climate control units on the _Argo_. A little home AC/Heater unit can't be that bad. I got ours running a few weeks ago….uhh..in my negligee," Nova said with a blush.

Derek smiled at the sight, remembering how Nova had looked in her nightie at four in the morning crawling around the maintenance room in their basement with a voltmeter and wrenches, cursing a mild blue streak in a confused mixture of French and German. At that, Mark and Holly left them alone.

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING….(July 15, 2208)**

Mark and Holly stayed overnight. Karl and Teri had left with their kids, leaving Derek and Nova alone with Star, until Sasha and Deke picked her up later on, at about the same time that their adopted son Jonathan came home from his part of the exercise; during the battle in Vietnam, he had been on the _Argo_, safe from danger.

As Mark and Holly Venture smiled at the morning sight of a messy, unshaven Derek Wildstar up helping his baby son and daughter eat, they heard a soft rustling sound and heard footesteps in the very warm kitchen area.

Nova had come out from the master bedroom…in her light, light sleepwear.

Her boyish form was clothed only in one of the lightest of her negligees; a light pink gossamer thing that Mark rememberd seeing Nova clad in years before on the _Argo_.

Just as Mark remembered, Nova's pert but firm breasts were fully visible in the pink negligee, and the sight was _gorgeous_. And, even more than he remembered, the rest of Nova was also very visible in the pink nightgown.

Mark remembered that in 2199, Nova had worn a set of small black bikini panties under the negligee. This time…there were no panties, and her willowy, boyish form was obviously naked beneath the pink silk.

Derek noticed and he smiled. "Good morning, dear. Too hot for your _yukata_?"

"Yes," Nova said with a blush as she leaned against the ornamental balustrade, pointing her toes on one of her bare feet, while Holly looked on, thinking as she sat there in her shorty pajamas, _Nova, I could just kill you! I have a nightie like that but you…you make something like that look damn good!_ Nova then added, "I'm going to have to get out of this if Alex and Ariel notice my breasts….and want anything. "Mark…Holly..please forgive me…I'm so _hot_!"

"Nothing…to..forgive," stammered Mark Venture as Holly kicked him under the table with one of her bare feet. "Uhhh…it's your own house, Nova. You can…can run around in whatever you want!"

Nova squatted near the twin high chair, helping Derek feed her little ones, as she said, "Mommy missed you! Did you two sleep well?"

"Mommy pretty!" Ariel squealed.

"Me see Mommy boobies!" screamed Alex as he ate his food and kicked, dressed in the house in nothing at all to assist in the potty training he was learning. Ariel, also nude, also squealed "BOOBIES!"

"That's…uh…right," Nova said as Mark and even Holly laughed at the toddler's candor. "Mommy is hot, so Mommy has boobies showing. Mommy dressed like this for the same reason Alex and Ariel have no clothes on! It is hot out here this morning and we are still getting the air conditioning up after that blackout last night!"

"Want Mommy!" said Alex as everyone, Nova included, laughed as the boy reached for his mother's breast.

Derek got Alex out of his high chair, and Nova sat down on the floor, and undid the bow at her cleavage. A moment later, her left breast and shoulder were bare as Alex found her nipple and began to suck away…while the negligee, held on only at Nova's right shoulder, looked very close to falling off. Nova juggled Alex in her lap and again blushed a bit while the negligee came free at her shoulder and slid down to her waist, baring Nova's upper body.

"Okay," said Derek. "You're doing him in here?"

"Yes, I want to be near Ariel….if no one minds…I hope,' Nova said as she stood….and simply let gravity divest her of her negligee, which she stepped out of. When she sat on the floor again, Holly smiled because now both mother and baby were naked…and Nova looked a little more comfortable out of her clothing as she again gave Alex her breast in the nude while sitting on the floor playing with his lower legs and toes, while he played with his mother's toes for a bit. There had been quite a lot of "this littie piggie" lately between Nova, Alex, and Ariel since the toddlers were either barefoot or occassionally in sandals in the heat while Nova had been doing likewise when out of uniform.

That is, until Alex said, "Need to go POTTY!"

Nova urgently let him walk her to the potty chair in the hall. Mark and Holly smiled as Nova helped the toddler onto his little chair, where he sat kicking his legs and wiggling his toes as he grunted and made a face or two while he did his business, loudly announced "GOING POOPIE!" and Derek took pictures. Nova smelled the result and held her nose with a grin, while Alex went, "TINKY!"

"That's right, poopie is stinky," Nova said whiile Venture bit his tongue and tried to keep from laughing at the comical sight of a nude Nova helping her son wipe the poop off his tushie with a baby wipe while Ariel tried to grab her boob, and Derek took pictures of the naked moppets' crazed activities as Jonathan came into the kitchen in just his shorty pajama bottoms, yawning. "Hi, Dad," Derek and Nova's adopted teenage son said. "You look good, Dad. Hi, Mom. You look kinda…busy!"

"Would you help me with your baby brother?" Nova said. "Get between his legs..yeah…that spot…"

Mark smiled at them, fascinated at the fact that the Wildstar twins were shooting up like weeds and beginning to master the concept of walking, talking, _and_ going potty at an age that was close to the normal age for such things to happen, but still a bit precocious. He thought, _Are these two kids just natural geniuses in their way like their parents, or might Iscandar or the Cosmo-DNA have something to do with this?_ He looked sidelong at Nova and wondered for about the hundreth time why she looked so much like Starsha, or like the late Astra that he and Derek had found on Mars….or even like Sasha in her own way. _Was there an Iscandarian someplace in Nova's ancestry? Was there any way of ever knowing? Were they ever here before?_ Mark thought. _And what really happened to her when she turned on the Cosmo-DNA? Or…when Derek told me once she had held the Pellian Matrix inside of her for a little while in the spirit world?_ The last question in Venture's mind was easily posed due to Nova's hot-weather in-the-house nudity…_And how did she get over being pregnant so fast? And does she ever actually age? How damn long is she gonna live, anyway?_

Mark looked at Holly, who sort of nodded…as Mark wondered if Holly was thinking the same thing about their friend. There was something tantalizingly mysterious about Nova and the kids that Mark doubted anyone would ever really know. Then, Venture noticed that Derek also seemed pretty well-preserved for someone who had just turned thirty.

There was something just a tiny bit strange about that, too….Mark thought, _Do these two have Rings of Power or something? And why am I even thinking this weird shit?_

* * *

Later on, Nova threw on some light clothes. The twins had gone to sleep, and their mother was sitting at the piano, again playing and singing the Beatles' "I, Me, Mine" in much the same way that she had at the Hardy plantation the other day. Nova had to hold back giggles when Mark and Holly began to waltz to her gentle piano playing and singing while Derek sat with Jonathan, giving his adopted son a hug as they watched his mother, lost in her music and wistfulness.

Then, the phone rang. Nova sighed, finished the song, and ran up in the shorts and striped top she had thrown on to answer it.

"Yes?" she said. Derek rolled up his eyes when he saw Dawn Hardy on the other end of the screen while Jeff was trying to shush her. Dawn was yelling again. She said, "Nova, my mother in law Juliet called up again! We had a fight! She was yakking about why did I go back to work when I have David and I told her Jeff and I have to make a living and pay for the rent and then Jeff told me he's buying _your _old townhouse here in San Diego while I wondered where we're getting the money from and he said don't worry and I said, worry, we gotta worry a lot, Nova. Hey, where do I get money from, it doesn't grow on TREES ya know….and…that damn Katrina is charging us more rent, she's such a BITCH, and…."

"Yes, Dawn, Yes, Dawn, _Yes, Dawn_," Nova soothingly cooed into the phone, while, in the background, Holly put her finger to her head, pointed, and twirled it.

Mark looked at Derek, sighed, and said, "Wildstar, it's just like that Wakefield said….It Never Rains in Southern California…"

"But, oh man, it pours," Derek said back.

And life went on….

* * *

**END.**


End file.
